You're My Home
by avasmommy224
Summary: Jenna and Daryl have been married for 6 years when the outbreak hits. They have always had an unbreakable bond, but will the new challenges that come from this world be what breaks them? RATED M for language, adult situations, and eventual smut.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: I haven't written a story in a very long time but I have currently been wanting to get back into writing again. Please review and let me know what you think so far or if you have any suggestions! Thank you in advance!_

I've been sitting in this truck for 3 hours now, unmoving. Stir crazy isn't exactly describing my mood at this point. I've been reading the same page in this book over and over, not really comprehending anything. The sound of obnoxiously loud snoring coming from the bed of the truck is not helping. The only thing keeping me from moving is my husband's hand on my shoulder, his thumb rhythmically moving across my collar bone. He's trying to keep me calm…bless him.

"What the hell is going on up there?" I say, placing my book on my chest, looking up at him from my head being in his lap.

"Dunno," he says while shrugging his shoulder and taking his thumb from his mouth, which he has been feverishly chewing on all afternoon. "How's tha' book?"

"Can't get into it. Too nervous I guess." I pull myself up from his lap and pull my sneakers back on. As soon as I reach for the door handle I see a familiar flash of silver in front of my face and feel a tight grip on my hands.

"Where do ya think yer goin'?" I stare at the wedding ring on his hand and sigh, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. Looking up from his hand to his face I can't help but smile. I love his eyes. They pull me in every time, always have.

"Daryl, baby, I am just walking up a few car lengths to see if I can see what the hold up is. Sittin here is drivin me crazy and if I have to listen to Merle for one more minute I'm gonna suffocate the bastard just to shut him up."

"Woman jus keep your ass in the truck. You don' need to go wanderin off with everythin goin on."

"I love you, but I am gettin out of this truck." I say while opening the door and rushing out to walk ahead.

The glare he sends my way doesn't phase me in the slightest. I wouldn't have married him if I couldn't handle the Dixon's. People never understood how Daryl and I ended up together, or even how I could "control" Daryl and Merle. Earning Merle's trust and respect was the hardest part of all of it.

I met Merle when he came into the hospital needing to be stitched up. I am, or rather was, a nurse at the local hospital in our town in southern Georgia. He found out quickly that I took no shit from him, but I could certainly give it back when needed. After that, I started seeing Merle around town and would talk to him and joke around. He introduced me to Daryl. One look at Daryl and I felt an instant pull to him. I can't explain it to this day, but it is still there after 6 years. The only thing I can think is that it's that whole fairy tale kind of love. I know, I know. That is probably the cheesiest thing to say, but it's the only way I can explain it. I cannot live my life without him, it would break me.

"Hey! Be careful!" I hear from the left side of me. When I look over I see a young boy with a mop full of brown hair running towards me, chasing after a ball that rolled right into my leg. I pick up the ball and walk up to the boy so he doesn't stray too far from his family, which are eyeing me like a hawk.

"I think you dropped this." I say while laughing and holding the ball out to him.

"Thanks. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you. Are you okay?"

I can't help but give the boy the biggest beaming smile I have. He looks to be about 10 years old, with blue eyes and a bright smile.

"I'm fine, I promise. Just make sure you hold onto it so you don't lose it."

"Everything okay over here?" A rather large man, who could probably pass for my brother on any given day says while walking over towards us. I guess he must be the boy's father.

"Absolutely, I was just returning your son's ball. It was about to roll off the highway."

The way he looks at me makes me slightly uncomfortable. It's almost like he is sizing me up while checking me out at the same time.

"He's not my dad. This is Shane. He was my dad's friend. I'm Carl." He says while holding out his hand.

I shake his hand back with a smile and bend down to meet him eye to eye.

"My name is Jenna. It is very nice to meet you Carl. It's also very nice to meet you Shane." I say while extending my hand to him as well, which he gladly takes before looking over my shoulder. I don't even need to turn around to know he is looking at Daryl, walking up behind me. Over protective should be his middle name.

"Wha happened to not wanderin off?" Hearing his familiar gruff voice in my ear makes me smile, especially when I see the look on Carl's face. Poor boy looks worried about me.

"I didn't wander off, you could see me the whole time and I was returning a ball to Carl." The only reply I receive is a grunt and I can't help the eye roll that escapes me this time, causing Carl to laugh.

"C'mon," Daryl says while pulling on my arm gently "you ain't gotta make friends with everyone woman."

I raise my eyebrow at him and smirk. "Who said anything about friends, I just found my future husband." I see the blush the creeps into Carl's face and I can't help but laugh and ruffle his hair a little.

"I'm Shane, and you are?"

"Daryl. C'mon woman I ain't fightin no kid for attention." If you weren't paying attention you wouldn't have seen the small smirk he gave Carl, but I did and so did Carl, which thankfully seemed to make him feel less intimidated. Daryl is great with kids. He stepped up and took over the role of dad to my own daughter. He was in her life from the age of 3 until she passed away at 9 from a heart murmur. He helped me through that. Some mornings I wouldn't get out of bed, just wishing for death to take me too, but he made it his mission to make sure I was taken care of, and made it through everything from the funeral to the grieving. He didn't allow himself time to grieve until I started to realize that she may not have been his daughter by blood, but she was his too just the same and he felt the loss just as hard as I did.

"How do you two know each other?" Shane says while pulling me away from the thought of how much my baby would've liked Carl.

"He's my husband. My brother-in-law is passed out in the truck. I'm sure you've heard the obnoxious sounds all the way up here from him snoring."

The look of surprise that Shane gives doesn't go unnoticed by myself or by Daryl. This is always something that annoys me but Daryl brushes it off. His childhood wasn't great and neither is his self-esteem. People judge him off of his appearance and never give him a chance to see who he really is. He looks like the typical rough redneck that always has on a flannel with sleeves that have been torn off, worn out jeans, and an ever present scowl unless we are alone, but inside he has a heart of gold.

Shane is wondering exactly what everyone always wonders. How in the hell did this redneck land a chick like that? Shane looks Jenna up and down a few times before he looks back and catches Daryl's narrowed eyes on him while Jenna is in conversation with Carl. She's about 5'3", 125 pounds which is filled out in all the right places forming an hourglass shape. She has an olive skin complexion which seems to hold the perfect tan. She has black curly hair pulled up into a messy bun on the top of her head, hazel eyes, and a pouty bottom lip that looks perfect for nibbling on. He gives the redneck a smirk and shakes his head. Nope, he doesn't get it. This guy looks like the type of redneck that he always saw on domestic dispute calls.

"Why would you work two jobs? Being a nurse pays a lot right?"

Carl's curiosity makes Jenna smile. "Well being a nurse pays ok, but after a while I wanted to keep myself busy so I work as a bartender on the weekends while Daryl goes on hunting trips."

"Cool! I always wanted to try and hunt at least once but my mom doesn't want me to use a gun yet."

"Your mom sounds like a smart woman." Jenna can't help but laugh until she looks up seeing Daryl eyeing Shane in an aggressive manner.

"You okay, baby?" Daryl grunts and looks at her before picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. She lets out a yelp in surprise and starts laughing.

"Guess that's my cue…it was nice to meet you Carl!" She shouts while waving and Daryl starts walking back towards the truck. When Daryl puts her back down on her feet at the truck he holds onto her waist and gives her a quick kiss while no one can see them.

"Guy was lookin at ya like he was gonna eat ya fer breakfast. Stop wanderin off woman." He playfully smacks her ass while opening the door for her.

"Would you two shut the fuck up! Tryna sleep!" Jenna rolls her eyes and throws her shoe at him in the back of the truck.

"Ow! What the fuck was that for?"

"Bein a dick."

"Love ya too Sugar." Merle grumbles under his breath while tossing her shoe back at her.


	2. Chapter 2

Jenna keeps thinking back to that day when she met Carl. If she hadn't have made an impression on the young boy, they wouldn't be here at this quarry with all of these people. Carl had insisted that Shane and Lori include the threesome in the plan of getting off of the highway.

Jenna, Daryl, and Merle set their camp up a little further away from everyone else. The men liked their privacy, they were intimidating to the other members, and the group seemed to look on in disgust at the Dixon men.

Jenna got along great with everyone and enjoyed being around all of the kids. It made the hole in her heart feel less empty since she missed her daughter. She quickly developed a bond with Carl and Sophia. Sophia reminded her a lot of Daryl. She knew the situation and why the girl was so shy. There were plenty of times when she just wanted to go up to Ed and kill him for even breathing heavily. Jenna has always been a nice person. She came from a family that loved and cared for her in every way possible, and they taught her to be nice to everyone, never judge, and take no shit from anyone. This was the code she lived by. She may be small, but she is a feisty bitch when pushed. Thankfully, no one here other than her family has seen that side of her yet. When they do, they're in for a surprise.

Merle went into his tent about an hour ago, probably to get high without the disapproving looks from Jenna and Daryl. They didn't agree with it, not that Merle gave a shit, but he was respectful enough to not do it in front of his sister. She is probably the only woman in his whole life that he respected and loved. Any woman that can put up with a Dixon and not run or drown themselves in alcohol was a saint in his book.

"Le's get some sleep woman. Gonna go huntin tomorra, try an get us some venison fer a change." Daryl said while rubbing the back of Jenna's neck.

"Okay baby, sounds good." She said with a small smile. Jenna grabbed his hand and walked into their tent, turning on the small camping lantern that sat on a crate beside their air mattress. Daryl toed off his boots and started unbuttoning his shirt before flopping down on the mattress. He felt the mattress shifting as she climbed onto it and behind him. He knew what she was up to, it was their nightly routine for the past 6 years, and he secretly loved. He would never say it out loud, but he loved having her fuss over him like a mother hen.

"Alrigh' le's get it over with woman." Daryl pulled off his shirt and put his elbows on his knees as he heard the lid from the lotion bottle click, he couldn't help but smile.

"Like you don't like it. Told you before I can stop doing it if it's such an inconveinience." She smirked as she rubbed the lotion into her hands before taking hold of his shoulders and gently massaging.

"Shuddup." He grunted as he hung his head. He had no idea how he got a woman like her to marry him, let alone enjoy being with him and enjoy doing little things like this for him. However it happened, he's grateful. He was always afraid of having his shirt off in front of others. The scars that littered his back from his drunk prick of a father only raised questions he never wanted to answer and he never wanted anyone's pity. With Jenna, he never questioned it. He just took his shirt off one day and never thought twice about it. She didn't pity him, she didn't gasp or run in horror, instead she got out her lotion and gave him a massage as he told her where they came from. As she massaged, she kissed every scar on the way down until she was finished. She's done this routine every night since, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Yer sure you wanna go on tha' run tomorra with the Chinaman? I'd rather you'd find somethin to do 'round here til I get back." He grabbed her hands and pulled them around his shoulders, while twisting her rings on her finger. He was proud of the ring. He wanted to make sure she got something that showed just how special she was to him, how special their bond was to him. He worked overtime shifts at the garage and sold meat from his catches on his hunting trips for months to save up and get her what he thought she deserved. White gold bands on both rings, both having small diamonds around the entire bands, but the engagement ring had a 1 ct. princess cut diamond. She insisted it was too much when he popped the question, but he knew by the look on her face that it was the right choice. She was a simple, low maintenance woman but, she deserved it.

"I'll be fine baby. Besides, Merle's going and I wanna keep an eye on him. I don't want him going since you know he is gonna be trippin balls from whatever he just took. Shit takes twelve hours to get out of his system enough."

Daryl sighed knowing she was right. He didn't want his woman in any dangerous situation. She could take care of herself, he made sure of that after she was attacked one night at work. He still has nightmares about finding her in the parking lot of the bar all bloody and bruised. That attack had caused her a miscarriage and they were told that the chances of them ever having another baby were slim to none. They hadn't even known she was pregnant, being as she was only about 6 weeks along at the time. It still hurt like hell to hear though. That made two kids dead and gone in their lives. Daryl and Merle had made sure the bastard that attacked her had a good beating before the cops were called to pick him up. _Asshole better be fuckin dead now_ Daryl thought.

"Lay down baby, we can forget about everything else for now. Just think that you and me are camping and the world hasn't gone to shit." He couldn't help but smile and chuckle as he took off his pants and obliged his wife. As soon as he laid down she crawled over him and cut the light off. She straddled him and leaned down to kiss him. As soon as her lips touched his, he felt that familiar switch in his brain flip. The primal urges he felt when she was near were always there, but the second he felt her lips it changed to animalistic urges.

He grabbed onto the back of her neck with one hand to keep her in place before she could back away while the other hand travelled down her side to grab onto her ass. As soon as he grabbed he realized she wasn't wearing any panties. All she had on was one of his t-shirts. He growled into the kiss and ran his tongue across her bottom lip. She happily complied and opened her mouth for him to explore while one hand dug itself into his hair and the other gripped onto his bicep. He rolled them over so he was on top and took his hand out from the back of her neck to grab onto her left breast in a rough squeeze. Her moan was automatic and she dug her nails into his broad shoulders while moving her hips against him to try and create some friction.

"Wha's wrong sweetheart?" his voice sounded so husky and gravelly in her ear that she felt and instant jolt through her body causing a gush of wetness from her.

"Baby…please…please." She moaned out while feeling his rough hand on her breast, squeezing while pinching her nipple under the shirt and the other hand slowly moving down her flat stomach.

"Please wha' woman?"

She growled in frustration. It had been 2 weeks since they last touched one another like this. In the 7 years they have been together, the longest they went without sex was 3 days. This was torture for her and she hated how he seemed to control himself.

"Stop teasin and fuck me already, Dixon!"

"Why are ya so eager woman? Maybe I wanna take my time with ya." He said while biting her shoulder. Truth be told he felt like he was about to burst and was having a hard time controlling himself. He needed her just as much as she needed him but he knew exactly how to drive her crazy. He knew how to make her come undone in a matter of minutes no matter how he was going about it at the time.

She moved her hand between them and pulled at his boxers, freeing his impressive erection and grabbing down at the bottom of his shaft which pulled a growl deep from his chest and causing his breathing to become heavy and slightly erratic. She smirked in satisfaction and started to slowly pump her hand up and down his length, circling her thumb over the tip when she would reach the top before plunging back down again.

He grabbed her wrist to still her movements and pulled the shirt off of her, leaving her completely bare underneath him. He looked her over with hooded eyes that were filled with lust causing her to become impossibly wet, feeling it start to moisten her thighs.

His eyes took in her size 36D breasts and travelled down to her stomach, over her hips, to her still shaved pussy. She always couldn't stand to have hair on her and carried a razor with her everywhere. _I ain't complain_ he thought until he noticed just how wet she was. He saw it coating her outer lips and thighs causing another growl to emit from deep in his chest. _So much for takin my time…that shit ain't happenin now._

He looked back at her face seeing how flushed she was from arousal and impatience before crashing his lips back down to hers, shoving his tongue into her mouth while grabbing onto her hips. As soon as he pushed himself into her, he swallowed her loud moan and held tighter onto her hips.

"Goddamn woman, yer fuckin tight and so…so fuckin wet." He bit into her shoulder as he moved his hips in a circle against her, making contact with her clit.

"Daryl just fuck me. Please baby it's been way too long. I need you now." That was all it took for his control to crumble and he started to slam into her at a feverish pace. She wrapped her legs around his waist making him go deeper, meeting him thrust for thrust while he bit into her neck to muffle his sounds and keeping a hand over her mouth to muffle hers. As much as her sounds turned him on, he didn't need a walker catching him this off guard.

He felt the familiar fluttering of her walls on his dick and he knew she was close. He lifted her hips slightly off the bed to change the angle and crashed his mouth back to hers to cover her sounds. Her walls clamped onto him like a vice grip and her nails started leaving welts into his back. His release following seconds later where he coated her walls, claiming her as his.

He nuzzled his nose into her hair breathing in the scent of her, committing it to memory. He always loved how she smelled after they made love. The scent of her vanilla and cinnamon shampoo mixed with their sex smell satisfied him. He can't explain it, it just makes him feel satisfied knowing she is marked.

When their breathing calms he rolls off of her and pulls her back into his chest, keeping his arms wrapped snug against her waist.

"That was the best orgasm I've had in a while" she says while laughing, "I love you, you know that right?"

"I love ya too sweetheart" he says while peppering kisses into her neck and shoulder. "Get some sleep, busy day tomorra and yer gonna need energy to do this again."

They both laugh, completely content. Little do they know that tomorrow is going to be one of the shittiest days they've had.


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: Thank you all so much for all of the follows and favorites! Wow, makes me feel like I haven't quite lost my touch :) Special thanks to Kaylamrr for your kind words, I hope I can live up to them! Also to Guest: I'm not sure on the baby thing as of right now since they've already lost 2 children. Not sure how I would want to play that out yet if I decided to do it but it is a possibility! I'm glad you are enjoying the story and my style of writing also, I hope I can continue to entertain you!_

* * *

Jenna woke up to dawns light barely peeking into the tent and feeling his breath on the back of her neck and arms still wrapped tightly around her. She smiled at how warm she felt and knew he was still asleep due to his deep heavy breathing. She tried to slowly unwrap herself from his embrace to get ready for the day but was pulled back into his arms hearing a protesting grunt coming from him. He nuzzled his nose back into her hair and she couldn't help the light laugh that escaped her.

"Baby, it's time to get up" she said while turning her head to try and look at him, "thought you were gonna bring me back some venison." Daryl barely opened his eyes and turned her body to face him.

"I got other plans right now…" he said with his trademark smirk.

Jenna leaned in and kissed him slowly, moving her hand up and down his back lightly. "Oh yeah? What might that be?" She bit her lip, feigning innocence.

"I gotta hot wife, naked, in my bed. Deer'll wait." He slowly kissed her again, feeling her smile against his lips. Her smile turned into a gasp quickly as soon as he grabbed her ass cheeks roughly, allowing him to plunge his tongue into her mouth. Jenna moaned at the sensation that jolted straight to her core, her belly already becoming warm. He rolled over on top of her, knowing she would already be wet. She was always wet for him without much effort, another thing he absolutely loved about her.

"Still want tha' deer?" he whispered huskily into her ear while burying his hands into her dark curly mess of hair. The only response he was given was to be rolled back over with Jenna on top of him and impaling herself onto his throbbing cock. The sensation causing both of them to cry out.

"The deer can wait, right?" she said with a smirk of her own before crashing her lips back down to his while he gripped onto her hips roughly and she started to rock her hips back and forth, grinding on him. They were a perfect fit together. The rocking sensation hitting all of her pleasure points at once with his impressive size.

Daryl started to rock his hips upwards when she would rock her hips backwards causing both of them to quickly reach their peaks. Daryl moved one hand roughly up to her breast, squeezing while making both of them rock their hips a little faster. Jenna's eyes started to roll back into her head feeling the warmth in her belly start to spread.

"C'mon…fuckin cum for me girl…ride my dick til ya cum." Daryl grunted out between breaths before biting lightly on her nipple and sucking it into his mouth eliciting a loud groan from her, making him smirk against her. He felt the familiar fluttering of her walls around him and knew a few more thrusts and she would come undone.

"I'm gonna…..shit…." was all Jenna could get out before her walls clamped down on him and she bit into his shoulder to muffle her noises, sparking his own release.

Both of them were breathing heavily and holding tightly to each other, trying to come down from their highs when they heard a familiar voice echoing outside their tent.

"If ya two are done fuckin now how bout you get yer asses up and let's get fuckin movin! Jesus ya two fuck like rabbits." Merle's footsteps could be heard moving back towards his own tent.

"Guess he wanted everyone in the whole damn camp to know…fucker." Jenna looked at Daryl and saw he was blushing with a strong look of annoyance on his face, causing him to scowl at the tent flap. She couldn't help but laugh at the situation.

"Shit ain't funny woman." Daryl unraveled their limbs from each other and they both proceeded to get dressed for the day. When Daryl turned back around he took notice of what his wife would be wearing into Atlanta today on the run. He was momentarily stunned looking at her bent over in her shorts.

"Woman, put some damn clothes on! All that leg and half yer ass hangin out ain't necessary." He grunted out in a tone that had enough edge in it to cause her to turn around with an eyebrow raised.

"Dixon, shut your mouth. My ass isn't hanging out, it's fully covered and it's too damn hot to be putting on thick ass pants. No different than you not having any fuckin sleeves on any of your shirts." He knew her tone meant there was no room for argument but they were both stubborn as hell. He knew she had a point but it didn't mean he had to like it. The Chinaman, the cop, and the homie already looked at her in a way that he didn't care for. Jealousy was an automatic feeling he had towards any man around his wife, not that he was proud of it, but it wasn't going to change. He knew she was a catch of a lifetime.

"Whatever woman, just watch yer ass today ya hear? I don' like the idea of ya goin into the city anyway with all them geeks."

"I promise. I'm gonna come back to you baby, I always do and you always come back to me. You know why?" She said while standing in front of him with a small smile on her face, staring into his baby blues and running her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and looking back into her hazel eyes, mesmerized by the swirls of green, brown, and gold.

"Because yer my home and I'm yers."

"Exactly…never forget it." She stood on her tip toes to give him a slow kiss before pulling away and tying her hair up into a messy bun on top of her head. This was how he always liked seeing her, why he fell for her instantly. She was low-maintenance. Make up was a rarity for her, she didn't crowd the bathroom with hair products and girly shit. She didn't wear expensive outfits. She was just her and he thought there was no way anyone could be more beautiful. She stood before him in a white v-neck tshirt that probably came from Walmart that was a little tight to her body and some jean cut-off shorts with a pair of ankle boots and there was no one else he would notice. Merle would call him a pussy for this type of thinking but it was the truth and Merle would agree he just would never say it out loud. The skanks he always brought home didn't compare.

"Ready to go baby?" She asked, pulling him from his thoughts and handing him his crossbow and knife. He gave her one last kiss before they stepped out of the flap of the tent, seeing Merle and the rest of the run crew out and about. Going on the run today would be Glenn, Andrea, Merle, Jenna, T-Dog, Jacqui, and Morales. Yeah he really wasn't liking this.

"Yo Merle! Watch 'er back out there or it's yer ass!"

"Sure thing baby brother…I'ma watch 'er ass fer ya" Merle said with a smirk to try and rile Daryl up before he left.

"Knock it off Merle…pissin him off isn't gonna accomplish anything other than me kickin your ass." Jenna said while walking away towards Glenn and T-Dog, causing both Dixon's to laugh.

"I got 'er bro now go an catch us somethin ta eat ya pussy."

Daryl scoffed, walking towards his wife and smacking her ass causing her to yelp and turn around seeing the self-satisfied smirk on his face and the looks of shock on Glenn and T's faces.

"I love ya woman, come back in one piece aight?"

"I promise. I love you. Good luck out there." They shared one last chaste kiss before he walked towards the wood line and she turned back to Glenn and T.

"What?" She asked, self-conscious of how they were looking at her. She loved Glenn and T-Dog. They were her best friends outside of her family and she spent plenty of time with the both of them. Glenn brought her back some art supplies one time from a run because he remembered a conversation early on about her relaxing the best while reading or painting. That was the start of their bond. T-Dog and Jenna just had a mutual respect for one another and they were both hard people to not love. It also helped to have at least one Dixon on his side, the way he saw it. Daryl always glared at him, and if looks could kill….and Merle was just, well Merle. Merle is definitely racist and everyone avoids him at all costs.

"Um…nothing! Just still can't believe how different Daryl is with you compared to everyone else." Glenn sheepishly said. Jenna just laughed.

"Yeah I mean Dixon doesn't come across as the playful type." T-Dog said while rubbing his head.

"I'm his wife…and besides I bring out the playfulness in everybody." Jenna said while pushing lightly into T's arm and laughing. "Alright boys, let's go. It's gonna be hotter than Satan's nutsack in a few hours and I don't feel like baking today.

Jenna has no clue how all of this went to shit so fast. _What the fuck did Merle take this morning? Now we have a new guy that cuffed him to the fucking roof and his redneck ass still won't stop talking shit. How the fuck did a run turn into a babysitting a high and pissed off Merle Dixon day? _

* * *

Morales and Rick look out at the streets full of walkers. Andrea and Jacqui are looking over the side, too.

Andrea: God, it's like Times Square down there.

Morales: How's that signal?

T-Dog: Like Dixon's brain –weak. This causes Merle to flip T-Dog off.

Jenna: T, that shit's not helping

Morales: Keep trying

Andrea: Why? There's nothing they can do. Not a damn thing.

Morales: Got some people outside the city is all. There's no refugee center. That's a pipe dream.

Rick: Then she's right. We're on our own. It's up to us to find a way out.

Dixon: Good luck with that. These streets ain't safe in this part of town from what I hear. Ain't that right, sugar tits? Hey, Honeybunch, what say you get me out of these cuffs; we go off somewhere and bump some uglies? Gonna die anyway.

Andrea: I'd rather.

Dixon: Rug muncher. I figured as much.

Jenna: Merle! Shut it! I'm gettin real tired of your shit today, you hear me? One more word and I'll knock your ass out myself. Gettin high knowing we had this to do today, almost killing T, runnin that goddamn mouth of yours non-stop and I have had it. SHUT. UP.

Everyone watches as Merle mumbles to himself and puts his hand on her knee from where she is sitting on the pipe that he is cuffed to.

Merle: Sorry Sugar

Jenna: Everybody needs to stop staring now, I've got one problem under control now come on Officer Friendly, you helped get us into this mess now figure something out cause my patience is fucking gone.

T-Dog: Sorry baby girl

Rick just stares at her in disbelief, not sure what to think of this small woman before everyone gets back to a plan.

* * *

Jenna: ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?! NO! I'M NOT LEAVING HIM UP HERE!

T-Dog: Baby girl we got to GO and we gotta go NOW!

Jenna: NO!

Jenna tries running for Merle while he is screaming incoherently and reaching out for her before her whole world turns black.

* * *

The next thing Jenna realizes is that she is moving, but everything is quiet. She also realizes she is laying down and when she opens her eyes she can't help but groan at the splitting headache she has.

"Hey, hey just lay back. You took a good knock to the head and you might have a concussion." She looks around to see Officer Friendly hovering over her with a concerned look on his face.

"What the hell happened? Where's Merle?" She says while sitting up slowly, with a little assistance from the cop.

"Well let me just start by saying my name is Rick. I know I skipped over that part before on the roof." He looks hesitant to continue after hearing from the others about the Dixon clan. He's not sure how to proceed with the wild look in her eyes.

"Okay…Rick…where is my brother?" Her tone has a cold edge to it which makes everyone recoil a little. This doesn't sound like the same girl everyone knows and has come to love. It's almost scary, and in this moment T-Dog is becoming a little fearful and sliding to a corner of the box truck. Rick hung his head and moved slightly back from Jenna, keeping one hand on her shoulder.

"He's still on the roof but before you start screaming at me.." Rick could tell by the look on her face this was not going to go well. "Those things can't get at him. T-Dog chained the door so nothing could get in. He's safe." Jenna stared between him and T-Dog in disbelief.

"So wait…that's supposed to make me fuckin feel better? YOU LEFT HIM ON A ROOF IN FUCKING GEORGIA! Merle can die from the heat, exposure, dehydration…slow and painfully but I need to take comfort in the fact that he won't be eaten by anything other than fucking VULCHERS?" Jenna's breathing was becoming erratic and tears were freely flowing from her eyes. She moved up onto her knees unsteadily and made sure she was face to face with Rick, pulling his collar so their faces were inches apart. "How would you feel if I left your family onto a roof like some ANIMAL?!"

Rick had the decency to not pull away from her and just look ashamed at the woman. Glenn hesitantly came up and pulled her hands from Rick's shirt.

"Jenn we are so sorry. I..I..I don't know what else to say. Let's just sit back down. Your head took a hard knock and I don't want you to hurt yourself." Glenn tried to bring her back down to a sitting position with him, hugging her into his side as she cried.

"How did I hit my head? What did I trip on?" Jenna looked over at T-Dog since they were left on the roof together with Merle.

"You wouldn't leave him baby girl and I couldn't leave you there. The geeks were comin down on us hard and I had to get you out but you were screaming and…I..I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't leave you there." T just shakes his head and looks sadly at her with tears pricking his eyes. Rick watches the exchange intently. He sees that this girl is important to a lot of people in this group. The whole truck looks at her with sympathy and Rick can't help but feel like this woman's heartbreak is all his fault.

"What the hell, T? What'd you hit me with?" Jenna can't believe it. T-Dog knocked her the fuck out. Yeah, sure it was to save her life because there was no other way in hell she would've left that rooftop without her brother.

"Flashlight…I'm sorry baby girl. Daryl would've killed us all if you didn't come back."

"He's going to flip shit anyway, T. You know that, hope you all are prepared for the shit storm YOU created." She says while pointing at Rick and resting her head on Glenn's shoulder, curling into him and crying herself back into a quick slumber.

Rick: Daryl?

Morales: His brother.

The truck pulls up to the quarry and Morales is the first to hop out. Glenn gently wakes Jenna and realizes she has a little bit of blood on her shirt and a lot in her hair, pointing it out to T-Dog with a look of panic. Jenna lifts her head and the only way to describe her look is heartbroken and pissed off. T-Dog lifts her out of the back of the truck and Glenn wraps her arm over his shoulders to help her walk to her tent and check out her head. As the round the front of the truck they see Rick's reunion with his family and Jenna stops.

"Congratulations…Asshole." She slowly starts shuffling back to her tent with Glenn's help, T following silently behind. Rick looks up and explains to Shane and Lori what happened to cause the hostility from the normally pleasant woman.

"Oh shit…" Shane runs his hand through his hair and stalks off towards the Dixon's campsite to check on Jenna since she is alone until Daryl returns. T-Dog explains the gash in the back of her head to Shane and Shane can tell that when Daryl Dixon returns, people need to be ready.

"Man, just watch your ass tomorrow. Dixon will have your ass on the fire for dinner."

"Nah, it's on me man. I ain't runnin from it. I deserve it. Ain't never hit no woman before in my life for no reason at all, now I've gotta live with that and with how she looks at me now." T-Dog walks away and Shane steps into the tent seeing Glenn wiping the back of Jenna's head with an alcohol pad, noticing quite a bit of blood on the back of her shirt and some on Glenn's.

"Well sweetheart, looks like you might need some stitches but you're the nurse. What do you think?" Shane says crouching down in front of her.

"Doesn't need stitches, it'll close up soon, just can't wash my fuckin hair unfortunately."

"I'm sorry bout the shit the happened today. It sucks."

"No you're not. Nobody liked Merle, you don't have to pretend. At least you got your family back…all in one piece." Shane's uncomfortable look doesn't go unnoticed by Jenna or Glenn. "Fair warning…when Daryl gets back, it's on and I suggest your Officer Friendly deals with him one on one, no interference Shane. I mean it. You don't step in and save his ass because I'm not gonna be nice when it comes to this, understand?"

"I gotcha. Get some rest, some of us will take turns comin to check on you until Daryl gets back, okay?"

"I got her. I'm going to stay with her tonight. I think she has a concussion." Glenn smiles and Jenna when she leans into him. She can't wait for Daryl to be back, he's the only one that will really understand how she is feeling but she is glad to have Glenn. Glenn is the best friend you could have when you really need one.

"Alright. Get some rest." Shane walks out of the tent leaving Glenn and Jenna alone.

"You don't think Daryl is going to kill me for staying in here with you, right?" Jenna lets out a bark of a laugh and gives Glenn and big hug.

"It'll be the least of his worries, Glenn."


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: Thank you for all the follows and favorites! Please continue to review, any and all opinions, comments, and suggestions are welcome!_

* * *

Jenna woke up to a throbbing in her head, afraid to open her eyes to make the pain any worse. She vaguely remembers Glenn waking her up every few hours throughout the night and going through a lot of trouble to take care of her. T-Dog even brought her some dinner and sat with her for about an hour, profusely apologizing and unable to maintain eye contact. Sure, Jenna was madder than a hornet at him, but she knew she wouldn't stay mad at him forever. World isn't the same anymore, and he was just trying to keep both of them alive, but she isn't ready to admit that just yet.

Jenna started to doze off again hearing the mumbled conversations going on around camp and then she became aware of a pressure on her stomach that she hadn't realized before. She reached forward and lightly came into contact with hair…a lot of hair. _What the hell? That's too much hair and way too quiet to be Daryl. Who the…_ Jenna opened one eye just a crack to see Glenn's head on her stomach, fast asleep. She couldn't help but smile. He had to be just as exhausted as her making sure her concussion wasn't going to become a bigger issue than it already was. Glenn was lying on his back, head resting on her stomach, hat had fallen off onto the other side of her hip, and his legs were bent at the knee and over the edge of the mattress. Braving even more of a chance, she opened up her other eye to see it was full daylight outside and the camp was up and moving around. It had to be early afternoon. _I wonder what's taking Daryl so long? God this is going to be the worst day ever. _Jenna moved her head and was overcome with a wave of nausea. _Fuck this…just go back to sleep._ Weaving a hand into Glenn's hair and lightly rubbing his scalp, she closed her eyes again to fall back asleep.

"MERLE! MERLE! GET YER UGLY ASS OUT HERE! I GOT US SOME SQUIRREL! LET'S STEW EM UP!"

Jenna isn't quite sure if she is dreaming or if she is starting to wake up. She hears soft snoring in the tent with her…_Messed up dream to be havin._

"JENN! WHERE YA AT?"

"Daryl, we should talk." Shane tries to get his attention to go ahead and get this over with and hopefully save Jenna the trouble of him taking it out on her later…he still has no idea how she's been with this redneck and his asshat of a brother this long.

"It can wait. Where's my wife…she doin laundry or somethin?" Daryl looks between Shane and the new guy, noticing their nervous postures. He chances looking around the camp trying to find her but is only met with looks of sympathy, and T-Dog not making eye contact. He also notices Glenn is missing amongst the crowd.

"They dead?" Daryl asks, his voice cracking at the end.

"Not exactly, man…" Shane isn't sure where to start and Daryl doesn't want to hear how his wife was torn to shreds. He stalks off towards the tent feeling the tears prick his eyes, blinking furiously so they won't fall in front of the others.

"Daryl man, just wait!" Shane takes off after him but he is too late. He rips the flap of the tent open not sure what the hell he is actually looking at. I mean he sees what he's looking at, he's just not sure why he's looking at it and he feels Shane at his back before he hear him.

"Aw shit man, it ain't what your thinkin just let us explain first." Shane's holding his hands up but keeping a defensive posture towards the redneck knowing his temper is short.

"Yeah aight, why's the Chinaman laying on top of MY WIFE on MY BED?" He turns to look at Shane with a scowl, breathing heavily, nostrils flairing. He knows Jenna wouldn't cheat but the situation is over clouding his normal thoughts. He's just about to see red and rip the little bastard limb from limb.

"Daryl?" He hears her but she sounds far away. "Glenn…Glenn, get up, Daryl's back."

This causes Glenn to bolt upright so quickly he gets dizzy.

"Daryl, baby, I'm okay." Daryl whips his head around and narrows his eyes on Glenn before getting a good look at his wife. She's struggling to sit up and when she turns slightly he notices blood on her shirt and her hair is matted in the back. Panic starts to set in at this point.

"Daryl…man…I..I..I swear this isn't what it looks like. She got hit on the head and I was just, I mean you know, making sure she was alright until you got back." Glenn is in panic mode trying to break through to the intimidating redneck.

"Whadya mean hit on the head? What the fuck happened?" Daryl moves to Jenna's side and gently pulls her up and into his chest, keeping one arm around her waist to keep her upright while this fingers prod through her hair to see the offending gash. "Jesus woman, what the fuck happened? Where's Merle? I told 'im to watch yer ass!" Daryl growls and Jenna can't hold back the tears as she collapses into his chest, gripping his shirt into her fists. Daryl looks between Glenn and Shane confused, neither making eye contact.

"Baby I am so sorry, I tried…please believe me, I tried." Jenna gets out between sobs.

"Wha? Tried?"

"They left him in Atlanta on the roof…new guy handcuffed him there and when I tried to get him for us to leave T hit me over the head to bring me back here because I wouldn't-"

"Wait wha?" He looked at his wife's face one time before he gently set her back on the mattress and stormed out.

"Daryl, NO! WAIT!" Jenna tried to get back up but couldn't do it without the help of Glenn, who gladly brought her out of the tent to sit in a lawn chair to keep an eye on things.

"YOU HIT MY WIFE?" Daryl lunged for T-Dog when Shane caught him and pulled him away.

"Daryl, calm down man and just listen…Listen!" Shane growled low into Daryl's ear.

Daryl shrugged him off, seeing the new guy standing in front of him, "Who are ya?"

"Rick Grimes."

"_Rick Grimes_, you got somethin you wanna say ta me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there. T-Dog comes into the camp with his arms full of firewood.

"Hold on. Let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!"

"Yeah."

Daryl grunts before he throws the rope of squirrels at Rick. Shane body slams Daryl knocking him to the ground. T-Dog drops the firewood and runs up. Daryl pulls out his knife and goes after Rick.

"Watch the knife!" T-Dog yells, watching the scene unfold.

"DARYL, STOP!" Jenna is getting up from the chair and rushing over the best she can, pushing down the nausea she is feeling.

Daryl swings the knife at Rick and misses wildly. Rick punches Daryl in the gut while Shane grabs him behind and puts him in a choke hold, forcing him to the ground.

"BABY STOP!" Daryl doesn't hear or see her at this point. His rage has completely taken over.

Shane: Okay. Okay.

Daryl: You'd best let me go!

Shane: Nah, I think it's better if I don't.

Daryl: Choke hold's illegal.

Shane: You can file a complaint. Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day.

"Let him go Shane, I told you yesterday that Officer Friendly needed to do this on his own." Jenna says in a low voice while taking the knife from Daryl's hand. She stays kneeling in front of him until his eyes finally focus on her. "Shane, let him go before I stab you myself."

Rick kneels down to be face to face with Daryl and looks him in the eye while Shane lets him go.

Rick: I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that? Do you think we can manage that? What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others.

T-Dog: It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it.

Daryl: You couldn't pick it up?

T-Dog: Well, I dropped it in a drain.

Daryl chokes up but pulls himself together, holding onto Jenna tightly.

Daryl: If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't. An' don' think I forgot ya hit my wife over the fuckin head neither

T-Dog: Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him—with a padlock, and if I didn't do what I did, she wouldn't have came back neither. She wasn't leavin him on that roof willingly.

Rick: It's gotta count for something.

Daryl wipes more tears out of his eyes and crashes Jenna into his chest while she cries and holds onto him to make sure he won't go off again and try to kill someone else. She can feel all of the anger and sadness rolling off of him and it breaks her heart to know that she can't do anything to help ease his pain.

Daryl: Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so's I can go get him.

Lori: He'll show you. Isn't that right?

Rick: I'm going back.

Lori, angry, goes into the camper causing Rick to sigh, walking off to the tent to get his uniform on.

Shane: So that's it, huh? You're just gonna walk off? Just to hell with everybody else?

Rick: I'm not saying to hell with anybody. Not you, Shane. Lori least of all.

Shane: Tell her that.

Rick: She knows.

Shane: Well, look, I—I don't, okay, Rick? So could you just—could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?

Daryl: Hey, choose your words more carefully.

Shane: Oh no, I did. Douche bag's what I mean. Merle Dixon—the guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst.

Rick: What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. _I _can't let a man die of thirst—me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being.

Jenna: You sure as hell didn't have a problem with it yesterday until I got in your face

Lori: So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?

Rick turns and looks at Glenn.

Glenn: Oh, come on.

Rick: You know the way. You've been there before. In and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask, I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too.

Shane: That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?

T-Dog: Four.

Daryl: My day just gets better and better, don't it?

Jenna: I wanna go with you to get him baby, bring him back.

Daryl: No way in hell, yer ass is stayin here. I want ya safe and restin…please.

T-Dog: You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?

Daryl: Why you?

T-Dog: You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language.

Daryl: Guilt over puttin yer hands on my wife maybe?

Jenna: Baby stop...I really wouldn't have made it back to you if he didn't do what he did. Accept the help, and come back to me safe.

T-Dog looks at her in shock as she gives him a small smile.

Dale: That's four.

Shane: It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was _here. _It was _in_ camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to _protect_ camp.

Rick: It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns.

Glenn: Right, the guns.

Shane: Wait, what guns?

Rick: Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up.

Shane: Ammo

Rick: 700 rounds, assorted.

Lori: You went through Hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?

Carl: Dad, I don't want you to go.

Lori: To Hell with the guns, Shane is _right. _Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in. Tell me. Make me understand.

Jenna: Lori, you know I love you but watch what you say. Just because you don't like the man doesn't mean his family needs to listen to everyone talk shit about him while he's been suffering, got it?

Everyone looks to Jenna before quickly averting their gaze. Lori gives the woman an apologetic smile and nod.

Rick: I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy. Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him.

Lori: What's stopping you?

Rick: The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer.

Shane: These are our walkies?

Rick: Yeah.

Andrea: So use the C.B., what's wrong with that?

Shane: The C.B.'s fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap. Date back to the seventies, don't match any other bandwidth, not even the scanners in our cars.

Rick: I need that bag.

Rick: Okay? Carl nods yes.

Rick: All right.

Rick and T-Dog walk over to Dale and Jim who are near the RV.

Rick: Rumor is you have bolt cutters.

Dale: Maybe

T-Dog: Yeah, we get to that roof, though; we'll need to cut that chain and the handcuffs.

Dale: I never like lending tools. The last time I did—and yes, I am talking about you—let's just say your bag of guns wasn't the only bag that was dropped. My tools got left behind with Merle.

Rick: We'll bring your tools back too. Think of the bolt cutters as an investment.

Dale: Sounds like more of a gamble.

_He opens the tool box and gets the bolt cutters. T-Dog reaches for them but Dale doesn't give them to him._

Dale: What do I get in return?

Rick: What do you want?

Dale: How about one of those guns you bring back? My pick.

Rick: Done.

(Jim clears his throat)

Jim: Dale, let's sweeten the deal a bit. Now that cube van of yours…

Rick: What about it?

Jim: The R.V.'s radiator hose is shot. That's a problem if we need to get somewhere and wanna get very far. And the hose on that van is just about a perfect match. Well, enough that I can make it fit.

Rick: I'll tell you what—we get back, you can strip that van down to the bare metal.

Daryl paces back and forth in the back of the box truck impatiently. Glenn is in the driver's seat. Jenna is sitting on the edge of the box truck, staying close to her husband. She can't help but feel guilty over everything that happened in the past 24 hours and she doesn't want Daryl to come back hating her if things went wrong. She wouldn't be able to live with it. She spares a glance and Daryl and he can read her like a book.

Daryl: 'ts not yer fault, babe. Don' even go there in tha' pretty little head of yers. Ya hear me, woman? Not on you. I know ya woulda fought like hell if you coulda and I love ya all the more fer it.

Glenn gapes openly at Daryl's open affection towards his wife, seeing the tears in her eyes and he finally realizes the dark circles under her eyes, the frown lines on her face and the redness to her normally olive skin.

Glenn: He's right Jenna, it's not your fault. You did put up a hell of a fight, T told me. Merle won't blame you either from what T said. As soon as he hit you he said Merle was about to break the pipe loose to get after him for it.

Daryl is using is foot to honk the horn of the cube van while Glenn is in the driver's seat.

Daryl: Come on, let's go!

Rick: Thank you.

Shane: Hey, Rick, got any rounds in the python?

Rick: No.

Shane: Last time we were on the gun range, I'm sure I wound up with a few loose rounds of yours.

Rick: You and that bag—like the bottom of an old lady's purse.

Shane: I hate that you're doing this, man. I think that it's foolish and reckless but if you're gonna go, you're taking bullets.

Rick: I'm not sure I'd want to fire a shot in the city. Not after what happened last time.

Shane: That's up to you. Well…four men four rounds. What are the odds, huh? Well, let's just hope that—let's just hope four is your lucky number, okay?

Rick: Thank you.

Shane: All right.

Rick gets into the passenger seat. He loads his weapon. Daryl closes the sliding door after giving Jenna a quick kiss and goodbye, not wanting to have a big display in front of the whole camp. He's getting better about showing affection in front of others but he isn't completely comfortable yet. Glenn starts the truck. Shane watches them drive off.

Shane: Hey Jenna, don't worry. Rick'll make sure he comes back.

Jenna: "I know Daryl will come back because he is too stubborn to die before I do." Jenna laughs lightly and looks at Shane. "But do me a favor, don't lie to me and tell me Rick will bring my family back. He's already left part of it for dead once. He comes back without my husband this time, he won't be breathing long enough to worry about anything else."

Jenna walks away to go back to her tent with Shane just watching her go, not quite sure how to take the threat that she just blatantly told.

* * *

Carol: I do miss my Maytag.

Andrea: I miss my Benz, my Sat Nav.

Jacqui: I miss my coffeemaker with that dual drip filter and built-in grinder, honey.

Jenna: My iPod…god I used to dance around the house with the damn thing plugged into my ears while I cooked.

Amy: My computer… and texting.

Andrea: I miss my vibrator. Although some of us don't seem to need one anymore…

They all look at Jenna, noticing the broad smile on her face, completely unashamed. All of them are laughing.

Jacqui: Oh!

Amy: Oh my God!

Carol looks around furtively.

Carol: Me too.

All of the women laugh louder at Carol's admission and Andrea looks back to Jenna.

Andrea: So Mrs. Dixon…how is he? I mean, we've all _heard_ some things at night.

Jenna laughs with a slight blush on her cheeks at the thought.

Jenna: He is…amazing. There are no words, but I think that's because he took the time to learn exactly what drives me crazy. Also helps that he has a really big-

Ed has gotten up from the tailgate and walked closer.

Ed: What's so funny?

Andrea: Just swapping war stories, Ed.

Amy: Yeah.

Andrea: Problem, Ed?

Ed: Nothin' that concerns you ought to focus on your work. This ain't no comedy club.

Andrea and Jenna scowl at Ed, Jenna having already no patience after everything that has happened.

Andrea: Ed, tell you what. You don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here

Andrea tosses the laundry at Ed. He catches it and throws it back at her, harder.

Andrea: Oh!

Ed: Ain't my job, missy.

Amy: Andrea, don't.

Andrea: What is your job, Ed? Sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?

Ed: Well, it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch. Tell you what, come on. Let's go.

Carol gets up to follow Ed but Jenna stands in front of her.

Andrea: I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you, Ed.

Ed: And I say it's none of your business. Come on now. You heard me.

Andrea: Carol.

Andrea puts her hand on Carol's shoulder, Jenna doesn't move her protective stance in front of Carol.

Carol: Andrea, Jenna, please, it doesn't matter.

Ed: Hey

Andrea turns back around to face Ed.

Ed: Don't think I won't knock you on your ass just 'cause you're some college-educated cooze. All right?

Andrea gasps while Jenna takes two steps towards Ed, readying herself for what she knew was coming. _Daryl is gonna kill me when he finds out._

Ed: Now you come on now or you gonna regret it later.

Jacqui: So she can show up with fresh bruises later, Ed? Yeah, we've seen _them._

Ed laughs while Shane hears their argument and turns back from watching Lori and Carl.

Ed: Stay out of this. Now come on! You know what? This ain't none of y'all's business. You don't want to keep prodding the bull here, okay? Now I am done, _talking_. Come on.

Ed takes Carol by the arm after shoving Jenna out of the way.

Andrea: No. No. Carol, you don't have—

Ed: You don't tell me what! I tell you what!

Ed strikes Carol across the face and Jenna jumps onto his back, putting him in a choke hold while wrapping her legs as far around his belly as she can.

Ed: You think you can—

Amy: Get off her!

Andrea: Get off her! Get off her!

Jacqui: Get off her! Get off her!

Ed reaches behind him and grabs Jenna by the back of the head and rams himself back into a tree causing the wind to knock out of her and automatically release him, dropping to the ground. None of them notice Shane until he's grabbed Ed and is hauling him away from the women.

Ed: Get off me! Get off me!

Carol: Ed?

Amy: It's okay. It's okay.

Carol: No!

Shane throws Ed to the ground and starts beating him with his right fist. Ed tries to shield himself but Shane pulls his hands away from his face and beats him more. Ed loses the wits to fight back.

Shane finally stops beating Ed. Still holding on to him he puts his finger in Ed's face.

Shane: You put your hands on your wife, your little girl or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time. Do you hear me?

Ed: Yes.

Shane: I'll beat you to death, Ed.

_Yup, Daryl is gonna kill me right after he kills Ed….Christ I need to learn when to back off._


	5. Chapter 5

_**AN: Thank you all so much for all of the follows and favorites, and as always please don't forget to review! This chapter is a little short but I wanted to crank one out for everyone on Easter vacations! Special thanks to my reviewers: **__Kaylamrr, hikari-hime 01, and GracieBugxx. GracieBugxx: __**I am so glad that you are enjoying the characters, especially my creation of Jenna. Your review has been helpful, not hurtful so no fear! The change up in the writing styles was me playing around to see what you, as a reader, liked better. Thank you for the help!**_

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The bloody hacksaw and handcuffs along with Merle's right hand are all that the rescue party has found. Daryl cannot grasp onto one single coherent thought. How does your day go from enjoying a hunt, to losing your game, finding your wife a bloody mess, finding out your brother was left for dead, only to find a fucking hand when you risk going back for him? Daryl's breathing starts to become harsher the more he comprehends everything that has happened since this morning. The anger is taking over and all he wants to do is lash out. This is why he needs Jenna. Jenna is his anchor when he feels like he is going to go out of control, but she couldn't be here. No, she couldn't be here where she belongs, by his side, because of these assholes. Daryl loads his crossbow and whirls around, aiming it at T-Dog's face, just inches away. Immediately Rick cocks his gun, putting it to Daryl's head. No one is flinching or moving in this standoff.

"I won't hesitate. I don't care if every walker in the city hears it." Rick says, staring intently at the side of Daryl's head. Daryl, crying, drops the crossbow. T-Dog lets out a sigh. Rick uncocks his weapon and lowers it. Daryl blinks away some tears. He takes a deep breath, hearing Jenna scold him inside his mind. "_Dixon, don't pull your stupid shit, got me? Focus, baby." _Daryl sighs after taking a deep breath.

"You got a do-rag or something?" Daryl says to T-Dog. T-Dog wordlessly hands him one and Daryl uses it to wrap up Merle's hand.

"I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs. Ain't that a bitch?" Daryl motions to Glenn with his hand to turn him around, putting Merle's hand inside the backpack he is carrying, ignoring the mortified look on the kids face. _Serves the Chinaman right…sleepin with my wife. _Daryl hides his slight smirk before turning back around to face the others.

"He must have used a tourniquet—maybe his belt. Be much more blood if he didn't." Daryl says while he follows the trail of blood. Rick motions to Glenn. He follows Rick and Daryl while T-Dog collects the dropped tools and Dale's dropped bag. Around a corner they see another doorway into the building. Crossbow aimed Daryl goes through, Rick and Glenn behind him. Rick has his gun out, ready to shoot.

"Merle? You in here?" The only sound greeting them when they reach the bottom of the stairwell is the sound of a walker growling. Daryl quickly takes out the "ugly skank" walker while they proceed through the building, finding Merle had left the building. Oddly, Daryl feels better knowing he's alive. He's a Dixon, and Dixon's survive.

Chinaman gets kidnapped over these damn guns and now we've given half our loot away to get him back. These Vatos are idiots. They had nothing to fight with but they risked it all anyway for all these old people who are going to die anyway. Daryl can't help but think about how Jenna would've been good for this trip, even if he did feel better having her at camp. If they had found Merle she could've patched him up, even helped out these old folks. Maybe then they wouldn't have had to give up weapons. Knowledge can be a powerful thing now-a-days, especially when you come across someone with a bleeding heart as big as his wife's. She would help anything that needed it. Used to drive him crazy how she would find a stray animal and nurse it back to health before finding somewhere safe for it to go. He was just ready to get back to her.

Walking back to the cube van, there was some idle conversation happening amongst them. Daryl kept to his thoughts and of course, her sweet voice came to him again…nagging him to death over the kid. _"Baby stop bein that way. Glenn took care of me and you haven't even said two words to him. He's a good guy…you'd like him if you actually tried." _Daryl sighed while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uh…Glenn…thanks fer lookin out fer Jenn fer me, ya know, keepin her right." Daryl glances at him quickly before staring straight back ahead. Glenn gapes openly at Daryl, not expecting the sudden appreciation from the normally gruff redneck, or maybe it was the fact he called him Glenn instead of Chinaman. Daryl glances at Glenn again to see him standing with his mouth open, not moving.

"What?" Daryl snaps, feeling like an idiot all of a sudden.

Glenn snaps back to attention and turns a little red in the face.

"It's no problem. She woulda done the same for me." Glenn starts walking again, catching up with Daryl.

"Yeah..yeah she woulda. Damn bleedin heart an' all. She likes ya, ya know? Yer important to 'er, so thanks." Daryl stops dead in his tracks, noticing the truck is gone. _Goddammit Merle._

* * *

Jenna had been in silent panic mode since Daryl left earlier in the day, especially after the whole confrontation with Ed, which resulted in a massive bruise that covered a good portion of the middle of her back. The quick glimpse she got of it in the bathroom mirror in the RV was enough to confirm that hiding it from Daryl was not an option. Thankfully, Carol didn't seem mad at her. She had helped Jenna bathe and get the dried blood washed from her hair and back, being mindful of the cut on her head. She had also given Jenna small smiles throughout the day, and Sophia had even hung out with Jenna for a little while, working on art projects.

Andrea and Amy had caught a lot of fish from the quarry earlier today, and they were all sat down around the camp fire, enjoying their dinner.

"I think I'm gonna call it a night everybody. Thanks girls for the amazing dinner." Jenna said while smiling sweetly and giving Andrea and Amy each a hug before walking towards her tent. Jenna laid down on the mattress, leaving the screen flaps open, to get some air through the tent. It was insanely humid for nighttime and she knew she wouldn't sleep until the men returned. While she was deep in thought she heard an ear piercing scream and tried to scramble to get up, forgetting about the concussion. As soon as she stood she fell to the tent floor in a wave of dizziness and nausea. Jenna couldn't see straight and all of the screams were making her freeze on the spot, making her not take notice of the walker clamoring to get into the tent with her.

Jenna got her breathing under control just to come face to face with a walker inches from her face.

"HOLY SHIT!" Jenna screamed, trying to scramble backwards, only to have the walker fall on top of her. She was using all of her strength to keep its mouth away from her face while looking from side to side for anything to kill it with. She saw a spare bolt a few feet away that Daryl must have forgotten. She jammed her forearm into its neck while reaching for the bolt. The decaying smell was enough to make her want to vomit all over again. Just as she felt the slime from its mouth drop onto her neck she reached the bolt and slammed it into the back of the walkers head, feeling its dead weight drop on top of her.

Catching her breath she started to focus on the sounds of screaming and gun shots. She pushed the walker off of her and ran out of the tent after grabbing her SIG P229 handgun, shooting at all of the walkers that were close to her. As she looked around she saw Shane fighting to get Lori, Carol, Carl, and Sophia inside the RV.

"SHANE! GO! I'LL COVER!" Jenna screamed over all the noise, seeing his nod of acknowledgment. She started running towards them, popping off walkers as fast as she could that were the closest to them, not wasting a single bullet.

"JENNA!" She saw Shane look at her in horror and before she could even turn around she felt a hand in her hair and grabbing the back of her shirt with a surprising force. The smell gave way that it was a walker. _No no no…God no I can't die like this. _As soon as the thought was done, the walker pulled her down with it, but its grip had lessoned and her shirt and torn down the back making it hang loosely around her. Turning her head to look she saw a familiar bolt sticking out of the walkers left eye, causing her to look around for the source. She didn't have to look long before he was standing over her, pulling her up into his arms and holding on tighter than she could ever remember him doing before.

"Damn it woman, ya a'right? Lemme see." Daryl started frantically searching her for bites and scratches.

"I'm fine baby, I'm fine." Jenna grabbed his face in both her hands and gave him a big beaming smile, showing her perfectly straight teeth. The tension in Daryl's body leaving him instantly, pulling her in for another hug. They both surveyed the carnage around them, taking in all of the casualties.

"Where's Merle?" Jenna looked up at his face, knowing instantly that he wasn't there.

"He ain't dead…just gone. We'll find 'im." Daryl kissed her lips gently while holding both hands to the sides of her face, not caring who saw in this moment. Watching that walker grab her made his heart stop and his breath rush out of him. If he had been a second later with the trigger, she wouldn't still be here, and that was something he wouldn't be able to move past.

"C'mon, let's get ya another shirt." Daryl pulled Jenna towards the tent, the walker inside forgotten in the moment until Daryl stopped short, seeing the legs hanging outside of the tent flap.

"Wha' the fuck happened?!" Daryl ran towards the tent, seeing a bolt sticking through the backside of the walker's head. _I never shot no walker near the tent. _He snapped his head back towards his wife, his eyes searching her. He saw how her once white t-shirt was full of walker blood, along with her left arm being coated in it as well. She could see the panic coming back to his face and she rushed to him and ran her hand through her messy dark curls, which had become unruly due to the nights events.

"I was layin down when it came in. Got me pinned. Only thing I could reach was the bolt that must've fallen from your quiver. I'm fine, baby. I'd tell you if I wasn't, ya know that…right?" He looked into her pleading eyes and he couldn't believe all this shit had happened. Could anything else go wrong today? Daryl held her tightly again. _Can't lose 'er…just can't. _Daryl breathed deeply before pulling away and taking care of the walker inside their tent. He grabbed her one of his shirts and put it on her after taking the other one off of her and throwing it into the fire. All he wanted was to curl up with her and feel her breathing against him. He felt as if there wouldn't be enough reassurance in the world right now to know she was alright, and safe in his arms. _Leaving 'er here had been stupid. Shoulda taken 'er with me, always safest with me._

* * *

The sun had risen, the dead were disposed of, everyone was grieving, and everyone had to watch a pissing contest between Rick and Shane. Neither option sounded good to Jenna. Both gave her a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, but choosing between Fort Benning and the CDC…well, she had to choose the CDC. If there was any hope at all, it would be found there and the military was overrun. They had seen it in Atlanta over and over again. So here they were, off to the CDC. Jenna had her shoes off and her feet hanging out the open window, enjoying the passing breeze with her head in Daryl's lap. She finally felt safe enough to sleep, feeling his warmth.

"Wake me when we get there, k?"

"Yes ma'am…now close them pretty eyes and that big mouth of yers." Daryl smirked down at her, earning a genuine laugh and a playful slap to his stomach.

"You're gonna regret that comment later." She couldn't help but play back with him. These moments with him, just the two of them being completely their selves, it was where her favorite memories were born.

"Shuddup woman and get some sleep." Daryl went back to looking out the windshield just to look back down at her a few minutes later. "I love ya woman. Yer my home, ya know that?" Daryl placed his hand over her heart, running his thumb over her collarbone, causing a sweet smile to play at her lips.

"I know, and you're mine. Love you Daryl."

With that, sleep came quickly for Jenna. Next time she would open her eyes, she would be at the CDC and hopefully not still on the run.

* * *

_**Please do not forget to review! It's the only way I will know which direction that you, the reader, wants this story to go. ALL criticism is welcome! Reviews also give me the encouragement to keep on writing! Thank you again!**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**AN: Thank you all so much for the follows, favorites, and reviews! Sorry this update is a little late but it was my birthday so I took the day off from writing **__** Kaylamrr-as always, thank you so much for your kind words and I am so glad you are getting further into the story! Blackcat711 and APieceOfPie4Everybody- thank you for your input! I will see if maybe I can make that happen. As always, please review…any review is welcome!**_

* * *

Jenna wakes with a start. Her heart is pounding and she is covered in sweat. Frantically looking at her surroundings she realizes she is in the truck but she is alone. Taking several deep breaths and wiping her hand down her face she grimaces at how dirty she feels. Now that her breathing is under control she realizes that they are pulled over on the side of the road, steam pouring out of the RV and everyone standing around. She spots Daryl rather quickly and hops out of the truck, pulling on her shirt to get it off of her sticky skin.

Daryl hears the squeak of the door and looks up. He's realizing that Jenna is looking rough. Sleep isn't coming easy for her anymore causing dark circles to appear under her eyes, her hair is still matted even tied up in a messy bun on top of her head due to the dried blood and walker mess, and her clothes are sticking to her skin, making him realize that she has lost some weight on her already small frame. His chest and stomach clench painfully at the thought that he isn't taking care of her the way she deserves and he starts his way towards her, trying to hide his concerns for the time being.

"Nightmare?" He says once he reaches her, pulling her into a hug, resting his chin on the top of her head while she clenches her hands into fists in the front of his plaid shirt. She only nods in response, breathing in his scent to try and calm the rest of her nerves.

"Yer a'right woman. I gotcha. Ain't nothin happenin to ya, ya hear?" Again she only nods in response, pulling him even closer to her if it is even possible.

"Wanna talk bout it?" He says while rubbing her back with one hand and pulling her on her neck with the other to get her to look at him. When she complies and finally sees the baby blues looking back at her in concern, she can only smile and shake her head. She doesn't want him to know that she is dreaming of their daughter becoming one of the undead, this would only make him worry more and she cannot do that to him.

"I'm okay now, just needed to feel you near me." She stands on her tip toes and gives him a quick soft kiss on his lips. "Thanks baby." She unclenches her fists from his shirt and smoothed it out for him, looking intently at her hands.

He doesn't acknowledge the thank you. He's not sure what she's thanking him for, as far as he's concerned, it's his job to make sure she is okay. "Jim's wantin to be left behin' then we're pullin back off."

"Okay, we should go say goodbye." She nods and chances one more glance up into his eyes and forces a quick smile on her face, hoping to put off the inevitable conversation about her frequent nightmare and lack of sleep.

Hand in hand they make their way towards Jim. Jenna lets go of Daryl's hand and crouches down next to Jim. The shade and the breeze feel wonderful and she can see the serenity on Jim's face for the moment.

"Miss Jenna" he says with a smile on his face, eyes half open. Jenna smiles back at him the best she can with unshed tears in her eyes. "You're a good woman…always helpin' someone. Even now, you're sittin' with a dead man and I'd have no doubt you'd stay til the end with me." His smile becomes a little bigger and Jenna grabs his hand and holds it firmly between both of hers, running her thumbs across his hand. "Don't you cry for me Miss Jenna. I'm going to see my family again."

Jenna can't help but let 2 tears quickly fall before looking back into Jim's eyes. She plants a big smile on her face just for him. "You tell them I said hello, okay? I'm going to miss you trying to teach me how to fix that damn RV" she says while laughing through her tears. "Always the patient man…" she kisses his hand, then his cheek before getting up and walking quickly back to the truck. Lack of sleep and the stress is making her way more emotional than she normally is. When she reaches the truck she looks back to see Daryl giving Jim a nod of his head and walking back towards her.

"Ya a'right?"

"I'm okay, baby. Just tired from everything that's happened lately. I just hope we can relax for a while when we hit the CDC, ya know?"

"Yeah…know whatcha mean. C'mon le's get goin." He lightly smacks her on her butt before opening the door for her, giving her a smirk before getting into the truck and cranking it up.

As everyone starts to pull away, she cannot take her eyes off of Jim sitting underneath the big tree, several more silent tears falling. She quickly wipes them away thinking of Merle and Jim before curling herself under Daryl's arm and falling back asleep to the rhythmic sound of the engine and Daryl's calloused hand rubbing her arm.

* * *

The vehicles are parked in the street along the front of the CDC building and everyone climbs out of their vehicles hesitantly. Jenna notices that it is going to be dark sooner rather than later and cannot get the feeling of a heaviness off of her chest. She isn't sure if it is from the smell of all of the corpses or her instincts trying to tell her something is really bad.

Flies are buzzing over the corpses that are everywhere, both military and civilians. Sand bag barricades had been constructed to reinforce security at the entrance. They are still in place but the corpses litter the street in front and behind the barricades. Everyone is trying their best not to gag while getting their weapons ready. Jenna flicks the safety off of her gun and pulls her shirt over her nose, sticking close to Daryl's back so he knows that she isn't far from him. One less thing for him to worry about.

"Alright, everybody. Keep moving. Go on. Stay quiet. Let's go." Shane whispers loud enough for the group to hear. "Okay, keep moving. Stay together. Keep moving. Come on."

Everyone is quietly chattering and Rick is trying to tell everyone to be quiet. All of the noise is making it hard for Jenna and Daryl to listen for walkers. They walk past the entrance and up through a parking lot. Tanks and more barriers are positioned around the entrance. Corpses lie everywhere.

"Keep it together. Come on." Shane whispers loudly again while Rick tries to roll open the door. When nothing happens Shane pushes against it, pounds on the door. Jenna points up to the sky while nudging Daryl, pointing out how dark it is becoming. This also catches the attention of T-Dog and Lori. Everyone is now becoming a little panicked at the idea of being in the city after dark.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog says to Rick.

"Then why are these shutters down?"

Daryl takes notice of several walkers that have been alerted to their presence and he steps in front of Jenna "Walkers!"

"Baby, come on." Lori says to Rick, trying to get him to see to reason.

Daryl takes one out with a bolt. "You led us into a graveyard!" Jenna can see the tension building in his back and she places her hand on his bicep, giving a gentle squeeze. Just enough pressure to let him know that she is still right there with him, and isn't leaving his side.

"He made a call" Dale says in Rick's defense.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl says, becoming angrier by the minute.

"Just shut up. You hear me? Shut up. Shut up!" Shane says, getting into Daryl's personal space before Jenna works her way between the two men, sending a deadly glare towards Shane. "Back the hell up officer!" Her tone and stare give Shane no doubt that she will maul him if he doesn't retreat his stance on her husband. He relinquishes and turns back to Rick. "Rick this is a dead end."

"Where we gonna go?" Carol says, holding on tightly to Sophia, standing next to Lori who is tightly clutching Carl to herself.

"Do you hear me? No blame."

"She's right. We can't be here, this close to the city after dark." Lori is conflicted on if she should side with Shane or Rick in this moment.

"Fort Benning, Rick—still an option."

"On what? No food, no fuel. That's a hundred miles." Jenna says, still not over Shane's attitude as of late. Deflating his ego sounds pretty good to her right about now, in this moment.

"125. I checked the map." Glenn says, backing Jenna up.

"Forget Fort Benning. We need answers _tonight. Now." _

"We'll think of something."

"Let's get out of here."

"Let's go. Please"

Carl and Sophia are crying. People start back toward the cars. Rick looks up at the camera and sees it moving. "The camera—it moved."

"You imagined it." Dale says. Everyone is panicking at this point. Daryl grabs hold of Jenna's hand, keeping her in front of him with his arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her tightly to him while they slowly make their way back to the truck, still hearing the commotion of the group around them.

"It moved."

"Rick, it is dead, man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now come on. Man, just listen to me. Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick. Rick, there's nobody there."

Rick fights past Shane and beats on the door.

"I know you're in there. I know you can hear me." Rick still speaks to the camera. "Please, we're desperate. Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left." Lori runs up to Rick. "Rick, there's nobody here."

"We have nowhere else to go." Rick starts beating on the door again.

"Keep your eyes open." Shane tells the group, starting to usher everyone to continue on towards the vehicles.

"If you don't let us in, you're killing us!" Rick has become hysterical at this point. All he can think about is how this decision is going to get everyone killed, and it will be all his fault. This has to work, he cannot be wrong.

"Come on, buddy, let's go." Shane drags Rick away from the door. "Let's go."

Walkers are starting to come in more and more on the group, causing everyone to yell and start killing what they can, making a safe path back to the vehicles.

"You're killing us! You're killing us! You're killing us!" Shane drags Rick away from the door just as it rolls up, blinding light beaming out from inside the C.D.C. and everyone turns around.

The group is just outside the C.D.C. still standing in the light from the open doorway.

"Daryl, Jenna, you cover the back." Shane says snapping everyone back into action and out of the shock that the door actually just opened. The group enters and looks around at the lobby. It's completely empty.

"Hello?" Rick says tentatively, waiting for some reply. He isn't disappointed. He is met with the sound of a gun cocking and a man greeting them in the doorway, rifle in his hands, assessing the group.

"Anybody infected?"

"One of our group was. He didn't make it." Rick says, looking downward with his hands on his hips.

"Why are you here? What do you want?"

Jenna exchanges a wary look with Daryl and leans in close to whisper so only he will hear her, "Something doesn't feel right, baby…I have a bad feeling about this." Daryl looks into her eyes, seeing the worry evident in them. He hugs her close to him and puts his lips to her forehead. Her instincts have never been wrong before, and he knows it, but what other choice do they have at the moment.

"A chance."

"That's asking an awful lot these days."

"I know."

"You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

"We can do that."

The man lowers his weapon, satisfied with the conversation he has just had with Rick. "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes it stays closed." They all run through the doors and follow Jenner into an elevator.

"VI, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here."

"Rick Grimes." He puts his hand out for the man to shake. He just looks away. "Dr. Edwin Jenner."

The elevator is cramped, everyone pushed tightly together. Jenna has fisted her hand into the back of Daryl's shirt, reminding him of what she had said upstairs. If her instincts were going off, he needed to find out why to try and settle her mind. "Doctors always go around packing heat like that?"

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough." His attention switches from Jenna and Daryl, to Carl. "Except you, I'll have to keep my eye on you."

Carl smiles back at the doctor while Jenner chuckles at his own joke. When he looks away the smile on his face dies. Out of the elevator Jenner leads them down a hallway.

"Are we underground?" Carol asks the Doctor in a meek voice. Jenna reaches over and grabs her hand to give her a reassuring squeeze and smile, causing Carol to look back and return the smile.

"Are you claustrophobic?" He asks, noticing the exchange between the two women.

"A little."

"Try not to think about it." He says while not looking at her.

"Well that's reassuring." Jenna says, earning a smirk out of both Daryl and Carol. They enter the large darkened space. "VI, bring up the lights in the big room." The room lights up brightly and everyone looks around with wide eyes. "Welcome to Zone 5."

"Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?" Jenna asks, tightening her grip on Daryl's shirt. _This is wrong…this is all wrong. _Jenna thinks to herself, careful not to show the level of panic she is feeling on her face.

"I'm it. It's just me here." He says.

"What about the person you were speaking with? VI?" Lori asks, looking between Jenna and Jenner. "VI stands for Virtual Intelligence, Lori…it's just a computer." Jenna says, and Jenner looks her over a few times trying to figure out why she would know that. This causes Lori to become wide eyed and Daryl squeezes Jenna's shoulder in reassurance.

"VI, say hello to our guests. Tell them… Welcome"

"Hello, guests. Welcome."

"I'm all that's left. I'm sorry." Jenner says, still looking at Jenna. Daryl narrows his eyes at the man, wondering what his problem is. "If you need help drawing the blood to speed up the process, I can help you. I was a nurse, venipuncture was a daily thing for me. It'll cut time in half." Jenna offers while he leads everyone to be seated in front of several stations.

"That would be helpful, thank you. Supplies are in that closet over there, sink is over there also to wash your hands." Jenna sets off to gather everything and brings them back to the stations after washing her hands. Not surprisingly, her first volunteer is her husband.

"Nobody else is touchin me with no needle. I only trust ya with that." She smiles at him and he can see all of the love she has for him written on her face, causing his breath to hitch before she sticks him with the needle. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you baby!" She says, noticing him holding his breath and he just laughs. "Didn't even feel it woman…was jus' thinkin bout somethin s'all."

Glenn, T-Dog, Carol, Sophia, and Carl all line up for Jenna to draw their blood while everyone else sticks to the other side of the counter for Dr. Jenner. When Jenna finishes she looks over at Jenner and notices he is taking Andrea's blood, everyone else is done.

"What's the point? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever." Andrea asks him.

"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here. Let me just at least be thorough." Jenner says, finishing up with Andrea. As she stands Andrea starts to black out. Jacqui catches her. "Are you okay?" Andrea just nods, making a moaning sound.

"She hasn't eaten in days. None of us have." Jenna tells him, which prompts him to move everyone through the building towards the kitchen.

* * *

Everyone, including Jenner, is seated at a large round table eating pasta and drinking wine. Everyone is having a good time, laughing, and joking around. Jenna is visibly more relaxed although Daryl isn't sure if it's from the alcohol or not. Her giggling and antics are rubbing off on him and he even takes to joking around with Glenn, trying to get him as drunk as he can.

"It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." Rick says while looking around the table.

"He is more than just our host." T-Dog says and everyone holds up their glasses towards the Doctor.

"Hear!"

"Here's to you, Doc, booyah!"

"Booyah!"

"Thank you. Thank you, Doctor."

"Booyah!"

"So when are you gonna tell us what the Hell happened here, Doc? All the—the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" Shane asks, eyeing the table, his gaze lingering between Rick and Jenner, scowling.

"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now."

"Whoa, wait a second. This is why we're here, right? This was your move—supposed to find all the answers. Instead we—we found him. Found one man, why?" Shane says while chuckling.

"Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted." Jenner explains.

"Every last one?"

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They… opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

"You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea asks Jenner.

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good."

Glenn looks to Shane, "Dude, you are such a buzz kill, man."

Jenner shows them the rest of the living area, ready to call it a night for himself. "Most of the facility is powered down including housing so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies—if you shower, go easy on the hot water."

"Hot water?" Glenn asks with a goofy smile on his face, causing Jenna to laugh while squeezing Daryl's hand.

"That's what the man said." T-Dog says while looking around the group with a smile to rival Glenn's. Daryl throws Jenna over his shoulder causing a squeal of laughter to erupt from her, causing everyone to look at them and laugh. Daryl darts for a room, holding a bottle of Southern Comfort in one hand and Jenna's ass in the other. "Goodnight guys!" Jenna says, lifting her head enough to laugh and wave at the group before Daryl gets into a room, slamming the door shut. He puts down the bottle and darts straight for the shower, throwing their bag by the shower door, and turning on the water until the temperature is just right. Setting Jenna down, he pulls off her shirt and starts kissing her feverishly while unclasping her bra, letting it fall to the floor. Jenna can't think straight between the alcohol, the thought of a real honest to God shower, and the way his hands and mouth feel like they are over her all at once. Before she knows it they are both naked and the hot water is pouring down over her, her back pushed against the cold tiles.

"What's the rush baby?" Jenna asks while giggling into the crook of Daryl's neck, gently nipping her teeth across his collarbone. Her efforts are rewarded with a low growl and a bruising grip on her hips. Daryl picks her up effortlessly, wrapping her legs around his hips.

"I want my woman…don' need no other reason." Daryl grunts out while forcefully pushing his throbbing erection into her already soaked entrance. Jenna moans loudly at the intrusion, eyes rolling back, gripping her legs tighter around him to pull him even further into her. Daryl holds still for a minute, getting himself back under control before quickly withdrawing himself to the tip and slamming back home again, knowing fast and hard will give them both the most reward. The feverish pace and the sound of skin on skin reaches them to their peaks quickly along with extremely loud moans from Jenna and deep growling and grunts from Daryl. Neither having and coherent thoughts to speak, just completely going on feeling. As soon as Jenna's walls clamp down onto him, his release shoots out at the speed of a rocket, buried to the hilt inside her.

"Jesus Daryl…that was…wow." Jenna says while getting her breathing back under control, still clinging to him like her life depended on it, nails still digging into his shoulder blades. Only response given is a grunt that sounded something like _Uh huh_ before lowering her back down to the shower floor to stand. They wash each other, making sure they are both rid of all the dirt and grime and the water is clear before stepping out. Jenna shaves using the sink before drying off and applying lotion and brushing out the knots from her tight curls. She slips on a pair of black panties and one of Daryl's t-shirts, a grey one before going about their nightly routine.

"Ya know…"Daryl starts while laying down, pulling her down with him and into his side, "I think the las' time ya were this clean was the day we left."

Jenna starts laughing loudly, "Thanks babe…does feel good though to have a shower, shaved, and brushed teeth." Again, she only receives a grunt, seeing his eyes are closed and breathing is evening out. Sleep overcomes her as soon as she settles herself along his body.

* * *

After another round of amazing sex, another shower with another quickie, Daryl and Jenna emerge into the dining hall, stomachs rumbling from the smell.

"Oh my God T, that smells so good." Jenna says while practically tripping over her own feet to get to the plate of eggs and bacon he is holding out for her.

"Eggs. Powdered, but—but I do 'em _good." _T-Dog says with a big smile, causing Glenn to moan and groan with his head onto the table causing Daryl to laugh and clap a hand over his shoulder, sitting down next to Jenna, inhaling their food. Dale laughs at Glenn's misery and everyone's teasing. Jacqui rubs Glenn's shoulders. T-Dog dishes out more eggs to all, including Glenn.

Rick holds up a bottle of aspirin. "Where'd all this come from?"

"Jenner." Lori says while opening the bottle for Rick. "He thought we could use it."

"Thank you." Rick says, smiling gratefully at Lori.

"Some of us, at least." Jenna says while smirking at Glenn. Jacqui is comforting Glenn who has his head down on the table still, miserable. "Don't ever let me drink again."

Jenna nudges Daryl as soon as Shane walks into the room. When he looks at her and noticing her touching the side of her neck he looks at Shane and sees the scratches. Daryl looks at Jenna and shrugs his shoulders, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead, while they watch everyone's interaction with Shane.

"Hey."

"Hey. Feel as bad as I do?"

"Worse."

"What the hell happened to you? Your neck?"

"I must have done it in my sleep."

"Never seen you do that before."

"Me neither. Not like me at all." Shane says while looking at Lori. Lori eats her food and doesn't look up. This doesn't escape Daryl or Jenna's notice and Daryl nudges Jenna this time shaking his head. She knows this is his way of telling her not to get involved but she often lets her curiosity get the best of her. She quirks an eyebrow before going back to her breakfast.

* * *

Jenner leads everyone into the main computer room after breakfast, to give answers to the questions everyone keeps asking. "Give me a playback of TS-19."

_Playback of TS-19._

"Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few."

Up on the wall an oversized display shows varying 3-D views of human skulls.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asks.

"An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for E.I.V."

_Enhanced internal view._

The main screen changes to show the upper shoulders and head of the subject. The screen skews to a horizontal view then increases the magnification. The image becomes more and more detailed. The magnification shows the Inside the skull. It appears to be lit with bright blue threads of energy. Some areas are denser with light than others but there are lighted threads throughout the skull. The detail zooms in until the threads become closer and pulses of light can be distinguished.

"What are those lights?" Shane asks.

"It's a person's life—experiences, memories. It's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you—the thing that makes you unique and human."

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl asks, earning a giggle from Jenna while he wraps his arms around her, holding her tightly to him while they both watch the screen.

"Those are synapses. Electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says does or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death."

"Death? That's what this is, a vigil?" Rick asks.

"Yes. Or rather the playback of the vigil."

"This person died? Who?" Jenna looks towards Jenner after Andrea's question, noticing him keeping his emotions in check and avoiding truly answering the question.

"Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected… and volunteered to have us record the process. VI, Scan forward to the first event."

_Scanning to first event._

The screen shows a message "Scanning Forward" The brain has lights still flickering in the outer areas but the center has become dark as if black roots were growing inside.

"What is that?" Glenn asks.

"It invades the brain like meningitis." Jenna says, looking towards the doctor.

"Almost…the adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be…gone."

Andrea's tears catch Jenner's attention.

"She lost somebody two days ago. Her sister." Lori says.

"I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is. Scan to the second event."

_Scanning to second event._

"The resurrection times vary wildly. We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute… seven seconds." A red glow flickers at the base of the brain. The rest remains dark. Random sparks shoot out into the larger area of the brain but no further lights grow.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori asks.

"No, just the brain stem. Basically it gets them up and moving." Jenna says, cutting off any reply from Jenner. He looks to her impressed at her medical knowledge, believing her story of being a nurse.

"But they're not alive?" Rick asks

Jenner gestures to the monitor, "You tell me."

Rick shakes his head, "It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark."

"Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part—that doesn't come back. The _you_ part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."

The subject moves, its mouth opens and closes. The head moves side to side, the shoulders move as if the arms were being lifted. The barrel of a gun appears at the forehead pointing down. A bullet enters the brain and tears through the red cluster of embers. The brain goes completely dark, the subject stops moving.

"God. What was that?" Carol asks through a gasp.

"He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you?" Andrea states, more than questions.

"VI, Power down the main screen and the workstations."

_Powering down main screen and workstations._

"You have no idea what it is, do you?"

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal."

"Or the wrath of God?"

"There is that."

"Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere."

"There are others, right? Other facilities?"

"There may be some. People like me."

"But you don't know? How can you not know?"

"Everything went down. Communications, directives—all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."

"So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?"

"Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk again." Daryl says while dragging Jenna back to their room. If Jenna had stayed there a few more minutes, she would have been able to answer the most important question if she had heard it.

* * *

"It's not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down."

"Hey! Hey, what the Hell does that mean?"

Jenner keeps walking, everyone follows.

"Hey, man, I'm talking to you. What do you mean it's shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?"

"You'd be surprised."

"Jenner, what's happening?"

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark. Right on schedule." Jenner takes another drink from the bottle. He pauses at the steps that lead up to the work stations in the big room. Everyone has followed and is grouped around. Jenner hands the bottle to Daryl who angrily snatches it out of Jenner's hand.

"It was the French."

"What?"

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened?"

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?"

"Let me tell you—"

"To Hell with it, Shane. I don't even care. Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here _now!"_

The alarm starts blaring and Jenna realizes what is going on and she is frozen to her spot. She wants to reach out for Daryl but finds nothing in her body will move willingly. _Oh shit…we're all gonna die…oh shit._

"What's that?"

_30 minutes to decontamination._

Daryl looks at Jenna seeing the look of pure panic on her face, staring at the doctor. "Doc, what's going on here?"

Jenner scans his badge and enters code into a security pad.

"Jenna wha's wrong…Jenna!" Daryl shakes Jenna by the shoulders until she looks at him, seeming to break her out of her trance. "Decontamination…we're all gonna die in here." Daryl grips onto her strongly and looks around at the group, noticing they heard her.

Rick walks up to Jenna and brings his face level with hers. "What do you mean?" Jenna's eyes start to tear up as she looks between Rick and Daryl, gripping his arms tightly with her fingers.

"Decontamination…it's the CDC, Rick. This whole place is going to blow up." Jenna tells him as quietly as she can, watching the realization sink into his face. "Get your stuff and let's go! Go now! Go!" Rick starts to yell while he runs toward a security door that is sliding up to block the way back out of the C.D.C. Rick runs toward it in a panic.

"No. Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!" Glenn yells. All Jenna can do is grip onto Daryl as he pulls her into his chest in a crushing grip before he lets go of her, watching her sink to the floor and makes a run for Jenner. "You son of a bitch! You locked us in here!"

"Shane! Shane!" Rick yells for him to try and help him get a hold of Daryl.

"No, stop! Don't!" T-Dog says, trying to help.

"You lying—"Daryl gets cut off by the three men trying to drag him off of Jenner.

"No no no no!"

Daryl tries to take Jenner but Shane and Rick pull him off.

"Wait! No! No, don't do it."

Rick holds Daryl back even as he threatens Jenner with the bottle.

"Hey, Jenner, open that door now."

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed."

"Well, open the damn things."

"That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that. It's better this way."

"What is? What happens in 28 minutes? What happens in 28 minutes?!" Rick yells at Jenner, panic completely taking hold until he turns abruptly at the sound of Jenna's voice. "We all die in 28 minutes Rick…remember what I said…" Rick quickly turns back to Jenner, but before he can get his mouth open, Jenner gets in his face and starts shouting. "You know what this place is?! We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" Jenner collects himself and sits back down at his station. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure—in a terrorist attack, for example—H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"H.I.T.s?" Rick asks.

"VI, define."

_H.I.T.s—high-impulse thermo baric fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between 5,000 degrees and 6,000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired._

"It sets the air on fire. No pain." Jenner states in an eerily calm manner. "An end to sorrow, grief…regret. Everything."

Daryl throws the liquor bottle at the door, causing Jenna to flinch. "Open the damn door!" Shane runs at the door with a fire axe. T-Dog tosses one to Daryl. He catches it and they both try to destroy the door.

"You should've left well enough alone it would have been so much easier." Jenner says. The more Jenner talks, the more angry and panicked everyone is getting and Jenna is no exception. "Easier for who?"

"All of you. You know what's out there. A short brutal life and an agonizing death. You know what this does. You've seen it. Is that what you really want for your wife and son?"

"I don't want _this!"_

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher."

"Well, your head ain't!" Daryl says while charging at the doctor with the axe. Dale, Rick and Shane all hold Daryl back, T-Dog takes the axe away from Daryl trying to diffuse the situation a little from the angry redneck. T-Dog looks up to Jenna and sees the anger creeping onto her face, her breathing is erratic. "Man, calm down and help baby girl cause she ain't doin so good, feel me?" Daryl looks back towards Jenna and smirks, looking back towards T-Dog. "She's good, trust me."

"You _do_ want this. Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead."

"What?" Lori's face registers shock to hear this.

"What? You really said that? After all you're big talk?"

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?"

"There is no hope. There never was."

"There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here but somebody somewhere—"

"What part of "Everything is gone" do you not understand?"

"Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event."

"This isn't right. You can't just keep us here."

"One tiny moment—a millisecond. No pain."

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like _this."_

"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate just to hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?"

Shane has come back with his shotgun.

"Shane, no!" Rick tries to intercept Shane but Shane pushes him away. "Out of the way, Rick! Stay out of my way! Open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off. Do you hear me?" Shane has his shotgun in Jenner's face. "Brother, brother, this is not the way you do this. We will never get out of here."

"Shane, you listen to him."

"It's too late."

"He dies, we all—"Shane cuts Rick off and starts screaming. Shane points the gun at Jenner's face then, yelling, he shifts his aim to a computer monitor and shoots again and again, screaming all the time. "— we all die! Shane!" Rick struggles to take the gun away from Shane. He hits Shane across the head with the butt and throws an elbow into Shane's shoulder. Shane falls. Rick runs at him. He feints with the shotgun butt, ready to hit him again to keep him down. "Are you done now? Are you done?" He shows Shane that he's ready to use the shotgun as a weapon again. "Yeah, I guess we all are." Rick hands the gun to T-Dog. Everyone is looking to Rick. He looks around. Calmly he assesses all that's happened. "I think you're lying."

"What?"

"You're lying about no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?"

"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise. To her. My wife."

"Test subject 19 was your wife?"

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no?"

"She was dying. It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the _world_. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field she was an _Einstein. _Me? I'm just… Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me."

"Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's—that's all we want—a choice, a chance."

Jenna watches Daryl continuously beat on the door with the axe before calmly walking down to the doctor. She pulls a chair in front of him and sits level with him, rolling his chair so they are face to face. "You want to die, I get it, and I respect your choice. You held up your promise as long as you could." She gives him a small smile and holds his face in her hands. "I made promises to. I promised my husband I would fight, every day, to make sure I came home to him. I promised Carl and Sophia to teach them how to paint pictures for their Mom's. I promised Glenn and Theo that I would be the best friend I could be. Don't make me break my promises." Jenner stares into her eyes and she sees him wavering. Everyone is watching the interaction holding their breath.

"I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those." Jenner walks back to the security pad and unlocks the door Daryl has been beating on. When the doors open everyone rushes to leave. Everyone except Jacqui.

"Thank you." Jenna says, giving his hand a squeeze before running to catch up to Daryl who was waiting for her by the door. "Let's go! Move it! Move it!"

"There's your chance, take it."

"I'm grateful."

"The day will come when you won't be." Jenner takes Rick's hand to shake it and Jenner pulls Rick in close, whispering in his ear. Lori runs back and drags Rick out_._

"Hey, we've got four minutes left! Come on!"

T-Dog is leading Jacqui. "Let's go. Let's go."

"No no. I'm staying. I'm staying, sweetie."

"But that's insane!"

"No, it's completely sane. For the first time in the long time. I'm not ending up like Jim and Amy. There's no time to argue. And no point, not if you want to get out. Just get out. Get out." Everyone stops when they hear T-Dog yelling at Jacqui. She says this last to all of them. Jacqui pushes T-Dog away.

"Dog, come on, man. Come on! Let's go! Let's go!" Shane takes T-Dog by the arm and leads him up the ramp. Dale gestures for Jacqui to come, too, but she shakes her head, folds her arms tightly against her and turns her back. She doesn't give Dale an opening to persuade her. He looks over to Jenner and sees Andrea's there. Everyone but Jenner, Jacqui, Andrea and Dale run up the stairs to the ground level. Back in the big room Dale literally gets on his knees and pleads with Andrea.

Up in the lobby T-Dog and Daryl run for the doors, banging against them.

"Get them doors open!"

"Come on!"

"It doesn't work!"

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute." T-Dog tries the electronic security pad beside the door.

"Try it! Try it! Try it now!"

"Daryl!" Daryl tosses the axe to Shane. They both start hitting the glass but it doesn't break. T-Dog makes a run at the window with a chair. "Daryl, look out!" The chair doesn't work. Shane loads his shotgun. "Dog, get down! Get down!" Shane fires a round at the glass. It barely makes a dent. "Jesus."

Carol reaches in her bag. "Rick, I have something that might help."

"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it."

"Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform I found this in your pocket." Carol pulls out the grenade Rick had picked up in the tank in Atlanta. She gives it to him and takes Sophia away toward the back of the lobby.

"Look out!" Everyone but Rick takes cover while he removes the pin and puts the grenade on the window sill. Terrified at what he's just done he leaps back and away as quickly as he can. "Oh, Sh—"

Daryl lays over Jenna's back pulling her further into himself and the floor, putting his hands over his ears, making sure she did the same. "Get down!"

"Shit!"

Feeling the explosion and hearing the glass shatter, everyone waits a moment before getting up and looking around. Only the window nearest to the grenade shatters but it's big enough for them to escape through. The group runs to their vehicles. Shane and Rick shoot down some walkers that are in their path. Daryl takes one's head off with his axe, making sure Jenna is behind him the whole way back to the truck where he opens the door and throws her in, climbing in right behind her, slamming the door shut.

"Get back! Everybody down! Down!" Everyone hears Rick screaming. Daryl forces Jenna down into the seat of the truck, laying himself on top of her again. Dale and Andrea take shelter behind the sand bag cordon out by the guard shack. T-dog, Shane, everyone ducks down in their vehicle. A huge fireball builds up inside the C.D.C. building until it fills the entire place. The heat blasts out the windows, setting fire to everything around it, exploding tanks, cars, trucks, everything it touches. The explosion expands until the roof disintegrates and the building implodes on itself. Glenn, Rick, Lori and Carl get up from the R.V. floor and see the remains. Dale peers over the sand bag wall. T-Dog rises up from his seat. Carol and Sophia look up from the Cherokee, Daryl and Jenna from their truck.

Daryl exhales loudly, holding Jenna to him tightly and kissing her quickly and rapidly, making sure she really is right there with him. "Glad ya talked some sense into tha' asshole." Jenna smiles a big beaming smile. "It's a gift." He looks around. Everyone is shocked at the destruction. Behind the sand bags Dale reaches down to Andrea.

"Come on come on." Dale says to Andrea while Glenn opens the R.V. door. "Get in, get in, get in!"

"I can't believe they made it." Jenna says, looking on at Dale and Andrea.

"Uh huh. Gonna be interestin to see how tha' plays out."

The burning of the C.D.C. sends a column of black smoke high up into the Atlanta sky as the group travels on, not sure of their next destination but knowing they need to get far away from the city.

* * *

_**As always please review! I'm going to try and have moments of Jenna with each character, to show the many sides of her, good and bad. Let me know what you think or what you might want to see.  
**_


	7. AN

**AN: I'm sorry that this isn't another chapter yet, but I realized that I have 64 followers just for this story alone and I didn't want you to think that I had abandoned this story since that is far from the case. I have become insanely stressed out as of late and to give you a few reasons:**

**I have an 8 year old daughter that takes up a lot of my time naturally**

**I have a household to run along with a full time job**

**I am currently taking college courses to finish my degree**

**My mother has kidney and bladder cancers so she has taken a lot of a priority as of late**

**I promise that I am working little by little on the next chapter and taking into account some of the suggestions written in some of the reviews, which I LOVE by the way and will post it within the next week!**

**Thank you all so much for all of the love and support you have shown me throughout this story and just remember to continue to review and give suggestions and any type of criticism, good or bad, is always welcome! Be seeing you soon!**

**P.S. I have another fanfic up for those of you that like the show Supernatural if you are interested in reading it, just click on my name and it should take you right to it!**

**XOXO**


	8. Contest

Hey all! My mother had surgery to remove one of her kidneys and some of her bladder was shaved off and is now in remission! She has a long road ahead of her but it's a good start. Thank you all for the prayers and well wishes! Also thank you for your patience with this story. I've decided to hold a contest since you all have been so great. The contest is this: Whoever can create me an album cover for this story that I choose will get a one shot written by me using you and any character from the walking dead of your choosing. It can be of anyone or any situation you want and I will publish it with a dedication to the winner. Sound good? I will hold this contest for 1 week starting 7/12-7/18/15. Good Luck!

New official chapter for this story will be up later this week! Yay!


	9. Chapter 7

_**AN: Sorry this is a day late. I had a horrible migraine yesterday and couldn't stand to look at the computer screen, but here is the new chapter as promised. The winner of the contest is WickedDare. Check out her cover! Her one-shot should be posted within the next 2 weeks. As always, thanks for all of the reviews, messages, likes, and favorites. **_

* * *

Daryl had to ditch the truck a while back due to running low on gas, so now Jenna and Daryl are riding on Merle's motorcycle. Jenna is holding on tightly to Daryl's lower waist, her head resting in between his shoulder blades, trying desperately to stay awake. The nightmares are taking a serious toll on Jenna both mentally and physically. The only time she seems to get any real rest is when Daryl is right by her side, holding her tightly. Daryl reaches back and grabs onto Jenna's bare thigh, giving a gentle squeeze causing her to pick her head up and look around seeing the huge car pile-up ahead.

"Turn around and let them know." Jenna yells over the roar of the engine, seeing Daryl nod in reply and turn the bike around to roll up to the RV's driver side window.

"See a way through?" Dale says while looking between the two of them on the bike.

"We can try and lead you through, just keep following the best you can and I'll look back to make sure you're still with us." Jenna says before Daryl pulls back ahead of the group leading them through the pile-up. Unfortunately the second time Jenna looks around she sees smoke pouring out of the RV. She squeezes Daryl's stomach causing him to turn around and see the same and stopping. They both hop off the motorcycle and make their way to the group.

"Uh, maybe we should just go back. There's an interstate bypass- We can't spare the fuel. Jeez. I said it. Didn't I say it? A thousand times. Dead in the water." Dale says exasperatedly while tinkering with the engine.

"Problem, Dale?" Shane says, eliciting a small laugh from Jenna while she's looking at all the potential around her.

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of- Okay, that was dumb."

"If you can't find a radiator hose here... There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." Jenna says.

"I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start. Maybe some water. Or food." Shane says, backing Jenna up, also receiving nods from several of the others before walking towards separate vehicles to see what they can find.

"This is a graveyard. I don't know how I feel about this." Lori says towards Jenna and Shane.

"Lori, these people are gone. They can't use it anymore, but we can and we need to survive. Say a prayer for them if it helps you." Jenna says before squeezing Daryl's hand and walking off towards Carl and Sophia to keep an eye on them so they do not wander off.

"Hey, Carl. Always within my sight, okay? You too, Sophia." Lori and Carol say to their children. "It's all good. I'll stay with them." Jenna says with a reassuring smile to the mothers while sticking close to the children. When Jenna looks for Daryl she sees him helping syphon gas with T-Dog and she can't help but smile until she sees Rick frantically waving his arms. Jenna quickly spins around seeing the heard coming.

"Oh...my...God. Kids, under the car...NOW!" Jenna harshly whispers while shoving them under the car nearest to them. Getting down and seeing them safely tucked away but no real room for her she says, "Don't come out until I come back for you, understand? I'll be real close by, I promise. No noise!" Jenna crouches down seeing Rick waving her over and she quickly makes her way under with Rick hearing him whisper a quick thank you and pulling her close to him to fit snugly under the truck, both keeping an eye on the kids across from them. Jenna holds a finger over her mouth and Carl nods in repsonse, holding a hand over Sophia's mouth to quiet her sobs before the sound of the dead become so loud it is almost unbearable. Rick watches one side while Jenna watches the other. She knows her husband will be safe so all of her attention is focused on the two youngest members of their group.

Sweat is rolling down Rick and Jenna's faces and Jenna has developed a serious ache in her ribs from the unforgiving asphalt. She isn't sure how long they've been hiding but it feels like hours and the heard has almost passed, with a few stragglers making their way through the maze of cars. As the last one passes Jenna lets out a sigh of relief and looks at Rick with a big smile, which he returns, patting her on the back. The smile quickly wipes off of their faces when they hear Sophia scream and see her running over the guard rail, causing both of them to get up and run towards her. Jenna picks up a dropped screw driver before hopping over the rail and running straight past Rick, leaving him in the dust. She catches one of the walkers quickly and stabs it in the back of the head, landing on top of it and pulling the screwdriver out with a sickening squelch. Jenna starts looking around and finds Sophia's footprints, taking off after them. Following after the footprints she comes across a riverbed and sees Rick standing in the middle.

"Where's Sophia?" Jenna says completely out of breath, looking at Rick in much the same condition as herself. Both are panting, dirty, and covered in sweat and walker blood. Rick points to the hole and the other walker emerges from the edge of the woods.

"I'll lead him away, you get her back to the group!" Rick says before yelling and splashing to get the walkers attention off of Jenna and onto himself. Jenna quickly hides behind a tree hoping that out of sight, out of mind applies to walker's as well to make this situation easier. When Jenna peeks around she sees Rick and the walker far enough away to get Sophia. Jenna runs over to the river and falls to her knees in front of the hole.

"Come on sweet girl, let's get you back to your Mama." Jenna holds out her arms and Sophia rushes into them, giving her a hug that had surprising strength for a child her size.

"It's okay Soph...I won't let anything happen to you. I promise. Okay?" Jenna feels her nod her head into her shoulder and her sobs quiet down. "Good girl. First things first, are you hurt?"

"No ma'am, I just twisted my ankle when I fell down here."

"Okay, show me." Sophia unwinds herself from Jenna, falling back onto her butt into the water, both of them completely drenched while she puts her right ankle in Jenna's lap. Jenna sees some swelling starting but can tell right away it isn't broken.

"Looks like it's just a mild sprain. Be good as new in a few days." Jenna takes her overshirt off from around her waist, making sure to soak it good in the cool water and wrapping her ankle in it securely. "Okay, lets get you back." Jenna picks Sophia up and sets her on the edge of the bank before climbing out herself. She takes a quick look around, sensing no danger but also no sign of Rick before putting the screwdriver in her pocket and having Sophia climb onto her back and piggy-backing her back up the hill towards the highway.

"Thank you." Sophia says quietly in Jenna's ear.

"No need to thank me baby girl, I told you I would keep you safe and I will."

"You would be a good Mama." Jenna's steps falter and she readjusts Sophia onto her back.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Jenna feels Sophia nod on her shoulder. "I was a Mama before all of this happened to the world. She was a pretty little girl, about your age. She had heart problems and passed away in her sleep."

"I'm sorry...what was she like?"

"Well, she was always happy. Quiet kind of like you and sweet just like you too. You remind me a lot of her. She had green eyes and brown curly hair. Tan skin like me. When we get back, remind me to show you a picture when we get back."

"We probably would have been best friends."

"Yeah...I have no doubt in my mind."

"Why is it a secret? Do you and Mr. Daryl not want anyone to know you had a little girl?"

"We just don't like to talk about it sweetie, but you seem like someone I can talk to, so I thought maybe we could share that secret."

"I won't tell, I promise."

"I know you won't." Jenna smiles and readjusts her again. Sophia is about 5 inches shorter than Jenna and 30 pounds lighter, causing Jenna to walk slower than she would like to in this heat.

"How'd you find me so quick?" Sophia asks before they both hear a snap of a tree branch and leaves rustling. Jenna abruptly stops and scans the surrounding trees, hearing the noise again. Jenna picks Sophia up higher and tells her to grab the tree branch from the tree they are standing under. She does as she is told and Jenna helps her climb to the next branch up.

"Stay there and don't move. I'll come back for you."

"NO! Don't leave me."

"Sweetheart, I have to keep you safe. I promise I will come back. Have I ever broke a promise?'

"No ma'am."

"Good girl. I will be right back. Just don't move for anyone or anything but me, okay?"

Sophia nods and Jenna takes off in the direction of the noises she was hearing, seeing two walkers wandering aimlessly but they pick up on her scent quickly. When Jenna looks down she realizes it's because her knees are bleeding from falling on the rocks in the riverbed.

"Oh shit..." Jenna quickly pulls out the screwdriver, climbing up the tree nearest to her, scraping her arms and legs up more, leaving blood behind on the bark. She kneels on the tree branch, screwdriver at the ready, stabbing the first one to approach in the head but cannot get the screwdriver out. "No no no no..." Jenna feels a tug on her foot and has to let go in order to grab onto the tree trunk to stay in the tree, losing the screwdriver completely. When she turns around she sees the other walker licking the blood off of her shoe. "Gross bastard." She kicks with all the force she can muster knocking the walker back onto his back and jumps down beside it picking up a thick fallen branch, impaling it through the left eye socket. Jenna looks around not seeing any more and takes a quick breather before jogging back to where she left Sophia. When they see each other they both let out a sigh of relief, but Jenna is exhausted and they are now further away from the highway than Jenna would like. Sophia climbs back onto Jenna's back when they hear another rustling of leaves.

"Please God no, not again..." Jenna looks around and sees a heavy set man with a rifle and her heart starts to pound into over drive.

"Hey...are you girls okay?"

"Yes sir...just trying to get back to the highway." Jenna answers, feeling Sophia's grip tighten on her.

"Highway is just a little ways up."

"Yes sir I know but our group is by the big pile-up about 3 miles back."

"It'll be dark before you reach them. The farm I am at is a mile this way. We have food, water, shelter, and a Doctor to look at ya. Be glad to take ya in for the night and bring you back to your people in the mornin." The man looks trustworthy and Jenna isn't getting any scary vibes off of him. He's offering help to a woman with a child who both look like they've been through the ringer and is covered in walker blood.

"What do you think Soph? We won't be able to find our way in the dark and I just lost my last weapon."

"I am hungry."

"Me too baby, me too. We'd appreciate it greatly sir. I don't want her out in the open at night and she has a sprained ankle."

"It's no trouble ma'am, just follow me and we'll get ya set right for the night. Name's Otis."

"I'm Jenna and this angel is Sophia."

* * *

Daryl walked up to the rest of the group seeing a distraught Carol and he began looking around for his wife.

"Wha' happened?"

"Walker's were after Sophia, she jumped the rail and took off...Jenna and Rick took off after her." Lori tells Daryl while trying to comfort Carol and Carl.

"Wait, wha'?" Daryl's heart seems to stop in his chest and he looks across the group once more.

"I'm sure they'll be back soon. Haven't been gone that long." Shane says. "Jenna took off like a bat outta hell. Where'd she learn to run like that?" Shane says with a slight chuckle to his voice.

"She ran track in high school. Fastest one on our team from wha' I 'member."

"Been together since high school?"

"Nah...we didn' know each other til she got outta college. Jus' grew up different s'all." Daryl walks up to Carol and tells her quietly,"If Jenna's out there, yer lil girl is safe. I promise. She can run, fight, an' track wit the best of 'em. You'll get 'er back." Daryl nods before walking off and waiting for them to come back. Daryl suddenly remembers T-Dog and makes a beeline for him.

"Hey man...Sophia took off and Jenna went after 'er. I can patch ya up til she gets back and she can work whatever magic it is that witchy woman has." This elicites a pained laugh from T-Dog and he agrees so Daryl sets out to wrap his arm as tightly as he can to slow the bleeding.

"She'll be alright man."

"I know."

They both hear commotion and stand up to see Rick standing there. Daryl runs over and asks Rick where they are, fear gripping his gut tight.

"Jenna ran past me and she took a walker out while I followed the other. I found Sophia first and told her to hide in the riverbed. She did and then Jenna showed up and she said she would bring her back here. They should've made it back before me." Carol breaks down crying and collapses to the ground while Daryl, Rick, Shane, and Glenn go in search of the missing girls. Rick takes them straight to the riverbed where they were last seen and Daryl automatically picks up Jenna's tracks. She left heavy prints meaning she was either tired or carrying something heavy.

"Was Sophia hurt?" Daryl asks Rick.

"She fell and twisted her ankle. Jenna seemed okay though when I saw her. I had to draw the other walker away from them. It was too focused on Jenna when she came out of the tree line...maybe I should've just stayed with them."

"Nah..Jenn knows what she's doin. She'd keep Sophia safe anyway she could. See how her prints are heavy, kinda sunk in?" All the men nod. "That's cause she's carrying Sophia. She wouldn't have been tired enough to leave prints like that yet. She's got endurance in them lil legs o' hers. She kept carrying her up towards the highway." They all continued to follow the tracks until they saw two walkers lying on the ground, one with a screwdriver in it's head, the other with a branch. The closer Daryl looked he saw the traces of blood on the tree trunk.

"That's the screwdriver Jenna had." Rick said while looking over the bodies. Daryl grunts looking for more tracks, finding them beside one of the bodies. "Blood on the tree...she probably scratched herself up trying to climb up...but why did she go back to the other tree?" The men look at the other tree before Rick gives an option. "Maybe she put Sophia up in this tree to take out those two over there, away from her."

"Sounds like somethin she would do."

"Shane, Glenn...why don't you two go back, let everyone know we found their trail and we'll look around some more. They might be back by now." Both men nod before heading back to the highway, Daryl continuously following his wife's trail. "She's stickin close to the highway but she's moving further from the group...why?"

"She kept getting derailed...that's three walkers she took out that kept pushing her out. Plus carrying a child almost as big as she is...wait, what's that?" Rick points to a much larger set of footprints close to Jenna's and Jenna's following after him. "What are you thinkin?" Rick asks.

"Not sure...it's a man but she went willingly. There's no strugglin but not sure if its cause she had Sophia or if he was helpin em."

"Let's head back, we can pick up from here tomorrow but it's gettin dark and we can't find them without the light." Daryl is reluctant. He just wants to follow the prints until he sees his wife with his own eyes again but he knows he can't. He has to have faith that she knows what she's doing and she will stay safe and come home to him. Daryl nods his head and they head back to the group. Just as the reach the group the sun has almost set and they relay the plan to the rest of the group.

"You can't leave my baby out there!"

"She ain't alone. Jenna's got 'er. She's keepin 'er safe." Daryl tries to comfort Carol and you can see the relief slowly creep onto her face but the tears don't stop. He has a vague notion of how she feels so he can relate, not that he would share that with her. He doesn't know her. As everyone turns in for the night Daryl takes first watch, keeping his eyes open for any sign of the girls. All he can think is he has to have faith in his wife.

* * *

Jenna and Sophia have met the Greene family and have had their wounds tended to and had a good supper of chicken, green beans, and corn bread with glasses of milk.

"I can't thank ya'll enough for your hospitality, especially in times like these." Jenna says to the family as they all sit around the dinner table.

"Who would we be to turn down a woman and child in need?" Hershel says with a small smile, which Jenna returns.

"Still...if there's anything we can do to help repay ya'll. I was a nurse before all of this happened and Sophia has many talents." Sophia bows her head in shyness, redness tinting her cheeks.

"How bout you wash the dishes and we call it even?" Maggie says while laughing. Jenna can't help but laugh back and agree whole heartedly. She automatically took a shine to Maggie and felt like she was the sister she should have had in life. "Deal, but could Sophia be able to possibly wash up first? She hasn't had a proper bath in a few days." Jenna says quietly while rubbing her hair down. Maggie gives a gentle smile and hands them both some towels and clean clothes, giving them gentle pushes towards the shower.

"Thank you ma'am."

"Yes, thank you Maggie...we're in your debt."

"Nonsense. Ya'll just get good and clean then you can wash the dishes and get some shut eye." With one last smile the girls make their way into the bathroom. "Sweetheart, you wash up first, I'll sit here on the toilet if you need anything, okay?" Sophia nods and smiles as soon as the warm water falls from the shower head. "It's so warm!" Jenna laughs and turns her back towards Sophia so she can undress and shower. Once Sophia is done, Jenna hops in and relishes in the warmth of the water and the clean feeling again, silently thanking Maggie for giving her a razor. Both clean, Jenna brushes out both of their hair and they make their way back downstairs, giving Maggie their clothes for washing and got started on the dishes.

After finishing the dishes, Jenna washing and Sophia drying, they were shown to a guest room where they eagerly hopped into bed and snuggled under the covers, Sophia holding tightly to Jenna while Jenna hums "If I Die Young" and playing with Sophia's hair, lulling her to sleep and Jenna following shortly after, her thoughts on getting back home to Daryl safely.

* * *

_**As always, please follow, favorite, and review.**_


	10. Chapter 8

_**AN: As always thank you for all of the follows, favorites, and reviews. I have had nothing but positive feedback and I am blown away by all of your support and how much you all like my story. Please review and let me know what you think about this chapter and what you might like to see happen for the story, as I have the power to make some things change if I wish. Thank you again!**_

* * *

Jenna awoke with a start and panicked realizing she wasn't with her husband in the truck, she was in a strange bedroom. Slowly the day before's events started to come to her and she quickly looked down to her right, seeing a still sleeping Sophia curled up to her and she couldn't help but smile. She managed to keep this little girl safe, warm, and fed with the help of this kind family of strangers. Now this little girl is going to be back with her Mom.

While gently running her hand through Sophia's hair, she looks out the window to see the sun just barely starting to show and as good as she feels about what she did for Sophia, she can't help but feel guilty that she couldn't make it back to the group last night. The worry Carol must be feeling, the complete and utter fear she must be feeling for her little girl makes the guilt all that much heavier. She would be shocked if Daryl hasn't been tearing up the woods himself searching for them. She purposely left heavy enough tracks and scratches on the tree trunks to lead him right to them, knowing he would find them.

Deep in her thoughts she quietly gets up from the bed and sees their clothes dried and folded sitting in the chair in the corner of the room and quietly gets dressed back into her own clothing. There are still some stains from the dried walker blood but she is grateful to smell fresh detergent and clean air instead. Jenna sits on the window bench and steadily watches the sun rise, keeping an eye out on the tree line for her redneck. She misses him so much that she physically feels as if there is a hole in her chest. If anything were to happen to him, she would be all alone. There would be no real reason for her to keep going on, and the same goes for Daryl. She knows if something were to happen to her, he would lose his way. They keep going for the other person, and if anyone is going to survive this world, it would be Daryl. Maybe even Officer Friendly. Jenna's opinion of the man has slightly improved since yesterday. He helped keep Sophia safe. He created a diversion so they could get away when he could have done the same as everyone else and stayed with his own family. She is still pissed with him, but she respects him now.

Hearing Sophia move around on the bed she quickly averts her gaze and smiles at the sleepy girl.

"Good mornin' Soph…how'd you sleep?" Sophia looks around the room and smiles when her eyes land on Jenna.

"Best sleep I've had in a while."

"Good…how's your ankle feelin?" Sophia pulled her leg out from under the covers and twisted her ankle around a few times, slightly wincing.

"It's okay. Still hurts a little." Jenna gets up from the window and sits in front of Sophia's leg on the bed, feeling around with her fingers and watching for any reaction.

"Swellings gone down quite a bit. I think it'll be good as new by tomorrow as long as you take it easy today."

"Are we gonna find my Mama and Mr. Daryl today?" Jenna smiled at Sophia and smoothed down her bed head with her fingers.

"Yes ma'am, I'm gonna try my hardest to get you back to your Mom today. I know she's missing you too sweetheart…now get dressed and we can see about some breakfast." Jenna left the room and leaned against the hallway wall, arms crossed over her chest, sending a silent prayer that everything would go right today. She needed her husband. Jenna stood upright quickly and went to make it down the stairs when she suddenly had to grab the railing, knuckles turning white. Her head felt as if it were spinning quickly and she slammed her eyes shut tightly and waited a few seconds for it to pass. Once it did she realized she broke out into a cold sweat and her hands and legs were shaky. Taking a couple of deep breaths she made her way the rest of the way down the stairs and found Beth, Maggie, and Patricia in the kitchen starting on breakfast.

"Good mornin' ladies…need any help?"

* * *

Daryl was pacing back and forth at the guard rail. Daylight broke almost an hour ago and these people were standing around chatting and slowly gathering things like they had no cares in the world. To say he was getting pissed off more and more by the minute would be an understatement. Listening to Andrea bitch at Dale was getting real old, real fast. Ever since she thought about killing herself she acted like the old man was the reason for all of her problems. He didn't have time for the self-entitled whining, he needed to find his wife and that little girl. He needed to see with his own eyes that his wife was alright, to hold onto her and feel that she was here with him and safe. Looking to his left he saw Carol leaning against the railing, looking just as irritated as he did and he marched over to her, biting his thumb.

"We're gonna find em today. Jenna left me a good trail ta follow and she had your little girl with 'er. She'd die makin' sure yer lil girl got home to ya."

"Thank you. When we find em, I don't know how to thank her enough. She didn't leave her alone, she stayed with her and she's still out there trying to keep my baby safe." Carol took a deep breath and got a good look at Daryl for probably the first time. She sees the pride in his eyes and the love there as well at just the mention of Jenna, and she sees the clear worry lines across his face, but here he is making sure that she believes enough for the both of them. She sees the good man under the rough exterior and can't help but believe in his words, in his wife. "Ya'll would've made good parents. Goin' through all this trouble for one that ain't your own…it shows how good ya'll really are." Carol pats Daryl on the shoulder while blinking away her tears and Daryl takes a deep breath, contemplating if he should reveal anything about themselves to this woman, but she can relate and he needs her to really believe that Jenna is being the Mama Bear she was always meant to be.

"We were…parents that is." Daryl looks all around while biting on his thumb and he can picture Jenna slapping his hand away from his mouth to break the bad habit and he can't help but smile a little. Carol quickly looks at Daryl, shock overtaking her features before the sadness and realization kicks in. If they had a child and they aren't here now, something heartbreaking obviously happened.

"I'm sorry Daryl..." Carol whispers, knowing he is confiding in her. Daryl shakes his head and looks down at his feet, shuffling a little.

"It's nothin'…we had a little girl, bout yer little girls age. Name was Isabella Grace. Cutest lil thing ya'd ever seen. Mop a brown curls, green eyes and freckles all over 'er face, and just as tan as 'er Mama year round…" Daryl broke out in a smile remembering the time they went fishing and she caught the biggest fish of the season. You couldn't have taken that smile off of her face for nothing. "She had heart problems, passed some months before all this started and then shortly after we found out Jenna was gonna have another, but there was an accident and she lost it…she's never really gotten over it, don't reckon either of us ever will but when I say she'd die ta protect yers…she would." Daryl nods a few times before looking up into Carol's face, seeing a few tears fall and her quickly wiping them away.

"I believe you and I am so sorry ya'll had to go through all a that…maybe one day when the world gets fixed you can try again."

"Nah…we was told she couldn't have no more after the accident, but it's for the best. Can't raise a baby in this world the way it is. Baby would just be a death sentence." Carol can see the heartbreak in his eyes at never being able to have any more children with his wife, but also the conviction in his voice that he really believes it is for the best. She can't help but feel sympathy for the couple. They both look up to see Rick and the group walking towards them.

"We're gonna start off as a whole, follow the trail Jenna left as far as we can, according to the map there's a clearing with a church…we think we should split into two groups at this point cause this is where we are most likely gonna lose their trail. I want you to lead one of the groups Daryl. If anybody is gonna find em it'll be you. You know the woods better than anybody."

"Aight…what are we waitin for then? Burnin' daylight." Daryl hops over the guardrail and starts walking towards the riverbed where he remembers picking up her trail the strongest yesterday. Rick is the next to hop over, sticking close to Daryl, making sure to keep in contact with the man as they look. Rick has come to realize that Daryl isn't the ignorant redneck the group has passed him off to be. He isn't much like his brother and anyone that pays enough attention would realize that. The man is slowly gaining respect in Rick's eyes. He sees the good natured, determined man for what he really is. Jenna has also impressed Rick. Her action's yesterday were more than what any of them would do, more than what any of them did do. He sees why the group is instantly at her defense and why she is so missed when she is gone. He knows he needs to make it right with the Dixon couple. They're better off on your good side.

Reaching the clearing of the church took about 2 hours judging by the sun's position. Daryl is determined to keep going with or without the rest of the group. He can see the fatigue on everyone's faces and he can't help but think about how much quicker this would all go if he were by himself.

"Alright, I think we should all take a few minutes to rest, drink up some water, then we will split up into groups an-"

"Nah, we ain't gotta split up man. Jenna's trail is clear as day, they headed southeast." Daryl pointed to the trees showing an "X" marked on it with blood.

"She marked trees for this long with blood…you don't think she-" Lori started to say but her thought was cut off quickly by Daryl before she could utter her last words.

"Nah…she scraped her legs up pretty bad climbing a tree. She's fine." The finality in his voice stopped any further argument from Lori. Daryl walked up to the tree while everyone else was resting and looked around, seeing the heavy footsteps underneath some leaves that had fallen. Looking back at the tree he couldn't help but hope that he was right and that she really was okay. "Hold on jus a lil longer baby…I'm comin…" Daryl whispered into the air.

* * *

After cleaning up from a good breakfast of eggs, peaches, and toast with fresh milk Sophia went off with Beth to her room to play with nail polish and to gossip a little. Beth was thrilled to have someone around her age with only a 3 year age difference between herself and Sophia. Patricia went to go pick eggs from the chicken house and Maggie and Jenna were sitting on the porch drinking coffee and gossiping a little themselves. They took an instant liking to one another and Jenna was honestly sad to be leaving her as soon as Otis got back from his hunting trip. He had left out before they had woken up that morning and should be back any time now.

"So…you're married?" Maggie asked with a gentle smirk on her face, causing Jenna to raise an eyebrow while laughing and holding her left hand up.

"Yes ma'am…my rough and tumble redneck."

"What's he like?"

"Honestly…couldn't have asked God to send me a better man. We went to high school together and I knew who he was, hell…everyone knew who the Dixon's were, but we just never really ran into one another. Then I went off to college to become a nurse while he stayed and took care of his big brother the trouble maker. When I came back, his brother was one of my patient's and the rest is history."

"So no love at first sight? No fireworks?" Maggie asked with genuine curiosity and Jenna couldn't hold the smile from her face.

"I always thought he was attractive, don't get me wrong, I just never thought we'd end up together until Merle kinda pushed him towards me. My first real good look in his eyes I felt the world kinda shift out from under me. I felt like time just stopped and when we had our first kiss, girl…fireworks doesn't even begin to explain what I felt." Jenna looked to Maggie, not realizing the ridiculous smile she had on her face the whole time she was speaking, to see Maggie mirroring her own smile back.

"You really love him, huh?"

"He's everything to me. Without him I don't have a home, I don't have nothin." They smiled at each other again and before Maggie could open her mouth to speak back they heard yelling coming from the field, causing both of them to jump up and look and Jenna couldn't believe her eyes. She rubbed her eyes once just to be sure and found herself jumping off the porch and running towards Rick and Carl while yelling for Maggie to get her Dad. When she reached Rick she skid to a stop and checked Carl over frantically.

"Rick? What happened?"

"He was shot…we, we were out lookin for you and Sophia and…the deer…then he just…he just…" Rick was clearly in shock and Jenna knew they had to move quickly. Carl's pulse was slightly weak and his skin was becoming pale and clammy.

"Rick, I need ya to listen to me, okay? This house has a doctor, and I can help him to help Carl but we got to get him to the house and quick…can you do that or do I need to take him?"

"I got him…"

"Okay…let's go…now." Jenna spoke in her calm voice she had used on many patients and parents before and took off at a sprint, with Rick right on her heels. Reaching the porch Jenna ripped open the door and told Hershel who they were, that they were a part of the same group and Carl's vitals. Rick laid Carl down on the bed that Hershel instructed him to do and Jenna saw Sophia out of the corner of her eye crying. Knowing she needed to compartmentalize and calm everyone down Jenna went straight to Sophia and got eye level with her.

"Sweetheart, Carl is gonna be just fine. I'm gonna help Hershel and we are gonna fix him right up, okay? No more tears sweetheart. Can you do that for me?" Sophia nodded solemnly.

"Do you promise? You never break a promise." Jenna took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully.

"I promise to do everything I can." Jenna stood up just in time to see Shane and Otis walk through the door.

"Jenna? Sophia? We've been lookin everywhere for ya'll!"

"We stayed the night here. I don't have time to explain everything. What exactly happened?" Hershel was right behind Jenna getting the full story as Otis explained it.

"What's his blood type?" Hershel asked Rick, trying to get some sense into the man before him.

"A+…same as me."

"Good…don't go too far, we'll need ya. You able to help me Jenna or are you too close to the boy?"

"I was gonna help whether you wanted me to or not, sir. With all due respect, I was a trauma nurse and you can use me, plus I'm type O+, I can take turns donating so Rick doesn't wear himself out." Hershel nods his head before heading into the room, telling her to wash her hands ASAP.

"Rick, I'm gonna do everything I can. He's a strong kid, he'll get through this but I think you need to stay out here. This isn't gonna be pleasant and I don't want to stress you or Carl any more than what ya'll already are." Rick nodded dumbly before Jenna walked into the room, giving once last look to Shane for him to look after Rick. After shutting the door she got right to washing her hands and getting in place between Hershel and Patricia.

"The deer slowed the bullet down, which certainly saved his life, but it did not go through clean. It broke up into pieces. If I can get the bullet fragments out and I'm countin' six." Hershel said, causing Jenna to take a sharp inhale. She knows this isn't good. This is risky surgery back in a hospital with proper equipment. This is going to be a miracle if he pulls through.

* * *

Shane and Otis went to get supplies needed for Carl's surgery about an hour and a half ago. The longer they take, the less chance this kid has of making it through. Rick has already given blood twice and now Jenna is sitting in the chair on the other side of his bed giving him blood. Looking at Rick she can see the exhaustion and pain on his face, and she knows exactly how he feels. She's lived through the horror of seeing your child near death. Lori doesn't look like she is fairing much better, the way she is pacing the room, tears sporadically falling. She suddenly stops pacing and looks at Jenna.

"Thank you. I don't think anyone has said that to you all day and you've kept two of our children alive." Rick suddenly looks up at Jenna and realizes Lori is right. Rick hasn't said much of anything to her at all today.

"Jenna, Lori's right. I know we got off on the wrong foot, and you didn't have to do any of what you've been doin', but you did anyway. So, thank you for keeping Sophia safe, and thank you for all you're doin for my boy."

"Ya'll don't need to thank me. Just doin what anyone else would do. Just cause we got off on the wrong foot Rick, doesn't mean I'd wish you or your family any harm. You got a good boy, the deer proves that and I know you know it. Look at the positive of the situation. He'll surprise us all and be causin mischief in no time, just wait and see." She offered both of them a tired smile, feeling the light headedness from giving blood. "Ya'll go eat somethin', Patricia said something bout making sandwiches…I'm here for a bit longer anyway so he won't be alone." Jenna makes shooing motions with her unoccupied hand and gave them a reassuring smile watching them walk out the door. Laying her head back she started to fall asleep until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up with a start she saw Hershel ready to take the IV out of her arm.

"You should eat somethin'."

"How long was I out?"

"Maybe 15 minutes."

"Wow…didn't think I fell asleep."

"How far along are ya?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Hershel looked at her skeptically before realization dawned on his face.

"Your pregnancy, how far?" Jenna was honestly flabbergasted.

"I'm not…I can't get pregnant."

"You sure?"

"That's what I was told by three different doctors. Too much scar tissue to the uterus and cervix…I had a miscarriage when I was brutally raped and beaten by 2 men last year." Jenna told him in a low voice, hoping no one else heard.

"I'm sorry to hear that happened to you dear." Hershel patted her shoulder gently. "But, I still say you're pregnant. I saw that dizzy spell on my stairs this mornin, nausea after eating, and not to be rude but your lower stomach appears to be hard and slightly bulged…just let me know if you want me to check ya." Jenna stood still in her spot as he walked out and she stayed in a daze, feeling her stomach wondering if it were possible. Hearing the sound of a motorcycle broke her out of her daze and she ran out onto the porch, Sophia jumping into her arms while looking for her Mom. Seeing them both Jenna broke out into a large grin and started jumping up and down with Sophia.

"What'd I tell ya sweetheart?" Sophia started giggling and looked back out into the driveway seeing them all standing still in shock at the site before them on the porch.

"Let's go get em!" Jenna said while running down the stairs, putting Sophia down and them both running in their respective directions. As soon as Jenna reached Daryl she jumped up in his arms and wrapped her legs around his waist while the gripped her tight to him. Both breathing heavy, letting out quiet laughs.

"Welcome home, baby." Jenna whispered into his ear, causing him to grin like a cheshire cat. He didn't care who saw as he pulled her face to his and kissed her like she was his oxygen.

"Don't run off on me like tha' again, ya hear me woman?"

"Can't promise that but I know you'll always find me."

"Damn straight." He gave her one last kiss before placing her back on her feet, keeping an arm around her shoulders as Carol and Sophia made their way over to them.

"Thank you so much for keepin her safe!" Carol said before pulling Jenna into a vice gripped hug while crying. Jenna hugged her back just as tightly, trying not to cry herself.

"Anytime Carol…anytime." Pulling away from the hug Jenna realized she had a line of hugs to give and couldn't help but laugh as she became bombarded with everyone. Everyone was finally back together again. Daryl saw all the scratch marks from the trees on her legs, arms, and hands and couldn't wait to get her alone and check her over for himself. She looked fine, she looked healthier than she had in weeks despite the cuts and bruises, but he needed the confirmation for himself. Knowing she was going to insist on helping with Carl's surgery, he knew it would have to wait until later. For now he would take what he could get and he pulled Jenna away from everyone else, around the side of the house once she was no longer the focus of attention.

"Woman, you scared the hell outta me…you aight?"

"I'm fine baby, I promise…just some scrapes and bruises. Heal up in no time." Jenna buried her face into the crook of his neck and breathed him in, missing his scent and the feel of him, slowly feeling the hole in her chest fill back up. Daryl wrapped his arms tightly around her and stuck his nose in her hair, smelling the scent of the shampoo she used the night before and the smell of the laundry detergent her clothes were washed in.

"I love ya…more than ya know. Ya can't just up and disappear on me like tha'."

"I love you too Daryl, so much." She squeezed him tighter, putting what Hershel said into the back of her mind, knowing it wasn't possible. No reason to worry Daryl over nothing. She just wanted to enjoy this feeling of being in her husband's arms a few moments longer before she would be back in a mad dash to save Carl's life. For right now, everything in this moment was perfect.


	11. Chapter 9

_**AN: 62 Follows and 108 Favorites for this story! That to me is amazing considering I didn't think I would get this much of a following. Thank you all so much for sticking with this story and continuing to lend your support through private messages and reviews, it means so much to me. Please continue to do so, it motivates me to continue.**_

* * *

Jenna was exhausted but it was all worth it because Carl was alive. He wasn't completely out of the woods yet, but the bullets were removed and he was stable. From this blessing came a tragedy though. Shane came back without Otis. She doesn't even want to imagine what Patricia is going through right now. If Daryl never came back home she wouldn't be able to move on anymore. Jenna made her way out of the room and into the hallway making Lori and Rick stand abruptly.

"He's stable, we got all the fragments out of him and I donated another round of blood. I really think he's gonna be okay." Jenna said with a smile, watching Lori and Rick cry and embrace one another while laughing. As she tried to start making her way down the hallway Rick gently grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Thank you Jenna. Thank you so much for everything you've done for our boy, and not just today. I am forever in your debt." Jenna gently smiled at them both and gave both of them a hug, surprising Rick.

"No need for thanks Rick, he's a good boy. Ya'll should be real proud. Go on in and see him now. He's sleeping but Hershel and I are gonna take turns checking on him." With one last smile she made her way into the kitchen, watching Maggie and Beth console Patricia. She was a wreck from head to toe, the grief pouring off of her in waves.

"Excuse me…" Jenna tentatively stepped to the table and gave a sympathetic smile. "I just wanted to say how sorry I was for your loss. Otis was a good man. I know I didn't really know him but he helped Sophia and I, even Carl and…I can't imagine what you're feeling right now but I guess I just wanted to say I was sorry and that Carl is gonna be okay because of him." Maggie smiled at Jenna while Patricia and Beth cried. After a quick nod Jenna walked out of the kitchen and looked down at her hands and clothes seeing Carl's blood on her still, making her stomach flip with nausea. Everything finally hitting her all at once.

"You alright, Jenna? You look a little pale." Jenna quickly snapped her eyes up, meeting Hershel's concerned gaze. Jenna cleared her throat and tried to steady her shaking hands.

"Yeah…is it alright if I use your shower…I didn't realize-"Hershel cut her off by raising his hand, "I was gonna offer it to you."

"Thank you Hershel."

"No, thank you for all of your help in there. Now go on and get cleaned up, and keep in mind to come see me for a checkup." With a nod of his head he walked off, leaving Jenna to go outside to their tent for a fresh change of clothes. Upon entering she saw Daryl lying on their blow up mattress playing with one of his arrows and she instantly felt calmer in his presence. Daryl stood up as soon as he saw the blood smeared across her forehead and hands, with some splatters on her once white t-shirt.

"How's the kid?"

"We got him stable…I really think he's gonna be okay." Daryl took in her appearance further past the blood stains, noticing how pale and tired she looked, her curls in complete disarray on top of her head, barely being contained in her hair tie. Her t-shirt appeared slightly baggier than usual, her shorts hanging lower on her hips, and he couldn't help but be concerned. Jenna quickly noticed his distress showing on his face.

"Hershel is letting me use his shower, I just came to get some clothes and get washed up so I can hurry up and get back to you and our bed." Daryl gave a lopsided smile.

"Yer sure yer aight? Look a lil pale."

"Yeah I'm fine, just tired. Plus I donated blood to Carl 3 times today, be right as rain after a good night's sleep and a little breakfast so don't worry."

"Yer the nurse, how can I argue with tha'?" Jenna gave him a quick peck of a kiss, not wanting to get too close with the blood on her, grabbed her clothing and made her way back into the house and up the stairs. As she rounded the corner she ran into a solid body, almost knocking herself over if it weren't for the strong grip someone had around her biceps.

"Woah woah there Jenna. You alright?" Shane asked, taking in her appearance much like everyone else had.

"Yeah yeah I'm okay Shane. I am so sorry I just wasn't paying attention to where I was walking." Jenna noticed the drastic change in his appearance. He had shaved his head, had a few scrapes on his face and arms, and was wearing Otis's clothes which were 2 times too big for him.

"Nah it's okay, don't ya worry bout it. How's Carl?" Jenna gave Shane a reassuring smile and patted his shoulder with her wrist since he was freshly showered.

"He's gonna be okay. We got all the fragments out, I donated some more blood before I left him for the night. Hershel is gonna watch over him for the night and I'll check on him in the morning. He's sleepin right now pretty comfortably but you can go see him. Rick and Lori are in there with him." Shane let out a heavy sigh of relief, laughing slightly while giving Jenna a tight hug.

"You're somethin else girl…you really are." Jenna laughed and gently rubbed his back before pulling out of the hug.

"Wasn't anything I wouldn't do for any of ya, besides, if it weren't for you and Otis he wouldn't have made it…? I'm gonna go get cleaned up." Jenna noticed the way Shane's eyes showed a quick flash of what she could only describe as guilt but couldn't be sure because it was gone before she could really analyze it.

"Goodnight Jenna."

"Night Shane."

* * *

After Jenna's shower, she was met by Maggie outside of the bathroom door, who promptly took her dirty clothes and sent her on her way back to her husband. Jenna couldn't help but give a little laugh and a quick 'thank you' to her before making her way back outside. Entering the tent she found Daryl exactly how she had found him earlier and couldn't help but laugh.

"What ya laughin' at woman?"

"You…always playin with a stick."

"Pervert." Daryl said with a matching smirk to her own. She was definitely cleaner, the blood all gone. Her curls were already tightening up from the humid Georgia night air, she had changed into a grey v-neck t-shirt and green plaid short shorts. She crawled up onto the mattress beside of him and dropped down very ungracefully to his side, causing him to chuckle into her hair. He rolled onto his side and rubbed his left hand up and down her back applying pressure to rub out some of the tension she was carrying. Jenna let out soft moans, enjoying the treatment she was getting and finding it almost impossible to keep her eyes open.

"Go ta sleep sweetheart, I'll be here." He whispered on her forehead, giving her a kiss and holding her close while listening to her breathing even out quickly and lulling him into a deep sleep as well.

* * *

Jenna woke with a start, heart pounding and a fine sheen of sweat starting on her forehead and the back of her neck. When she caught her breath she realized Daryl was looking right at her, gently stroking her hair away from her face and off of her neck.

"How bout you tell me what all these nightmares have been bout?" Daryl said quietly, knowing the camp would be up and moving about soon. The sky had the blue tint to it that it gets right before sunrise, hearing birds starting to chirp occasionally.

"It's nothin' baby. I'm sorry I woke you."

"Ya didn't…and it's somethin because ya keep havin em so out with it." Jenna knew Daryl wouldn't let it drop. He had done good to not ask and pressure her for this long.

"It's stupid, honestly. I just keep picturing Bella as one of those things…we are back in our home, and I go to wake her up for school but when I open her door she's standing there waiting for me…she kills us both because I freeze up. I can't hurt her and she eats you right in front of me and by time she gets to me I feel her teeth bite into my neck and I wake up every time." Several tears rapidly fall from Jenna's eyes before she can help it and she grabs onto his hands that are holding his face, making eye contact for the first time since she began telling him.

"Our baby girl ain't one of em. She's some place better watchin over her lil brother til we can get there. So don' ya go an let yer mind work itself up like that."

"Little brother, huh?" Jenna says with a smile, finally feeling herself relax.

"Yes ma'am…Dixon's make boys, tha's how I know." Jenna smiled and leaned further into him, enjoying the calming effect he had on her. Daryl hugged her close and picked her chin up to kiss her. As soon as their lips touched her heart raced for an entirely different reason, but before it could be carried out any further they were interrupted by Maggie's voice outside of their tent.

"Jenna, are you awake?"

"Yes ma'am, everything alright?"

"Yeah…Daddy just wanted to know if you could check on the boy and he wanted to invite ya'll to Otis's memorial this mornin' after the suns up."

"I'll be right there Maggie." They heard her footsteps walk further away before Jenna gave her husband one last kiss before getting up to get dressed. Daryl watched her change intently, taking in every soft curve that he loved with lustful eyes. Also taking notice that her ribs were more pronounced as well as her hip bones. Her breasts looked a little smaller in her bra, and even though her ass was still well rounded, it had definitely lost some weight to it as well. Her stomach appeared flat until it came to the bottom, which was slightly rounded making him furrow his brow. The last time her stomach looked that way was when she was pregnant with their baby, but that shouldn't be possible anymore.

"Ya need to eat more, stop givin so much of yer food away." Jenna pulled on her shirt and looked at her husband, seeing the concern on his face. While pulling her hair into a high ponytail she gave him a full watt smile to try and ease his sudden rapid mood change.

"I'm fine, 'sides, thought I could stand to lose a little weight." Although the humor was evident in her voice, Daryl wasn't laughing, instead it furthered his foul mood.

"Not funny woman, I'm s'posed ta be taken care of ya and I ain't doin my job." Jenna crawled back onto the bed and straddled her husband's hips, leaning forward a little while cupping his face.

"You take good care of me Dixon, don't ever say otherwise. I'm still healthy as can be, just a couple less pounds which most husbands wouldn't be complainin' about. Now smile and give me a kiss so I can go check on Carl."

"I ain't most husbands." Daryl grumbled under his breath before leaning up and giving her a kiss that stole her breath away before slapping her ass and telling her to "go on now." Jenna laughed all the way to the house, only stopping when she got to the door of the farmhouse, ready to put on her "nurse face" for the day.

* * *

"Blessed be God, father of our lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to him for the gift of our brother Otis, for his span of years, for his abundance of character; Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, our most precious asset. We thank you, God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived, in Grace." Hershel took a deep breath, closing his bible. "Shane, will you speak for Otis?" Everyone looked to Shane, noticing his off put demeanor.

"I'm not good at it. I'm sorry."

"You were the last one with him. You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning." Patricia broken pleaded with him. Shane looked around, shuffling his feet from side to side, the look in his eyes giving Jenna a bad feeling.

"Okay. We were about done. Almost out of ammo. We were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up. We've got to save the boy. See, that's what he said. He gave me his backpack. He shoved me ahead. "Run," he said. He said, "I'll take the rear. I'll cover you." And when I looked back…If not for Otis, I'd have never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, it was his." Patricia burst out crying, nodding her head towards Shane in a silent thank you. Jenna gripped Daryl's hand and turned her face into his shoulder, whispering, "You saw it too, right?" Daryl squeezed her hand in silent affirmation before everyone walked off in their own separate directions for the morning.

* * *

Glenn and Maggie were getting ready to go on a pharmacy run, Shane and Andrea were cleaning the guns after Hershel asked the group to be unarmed, with the exception of 1 armed person on top of the RV, Daryl had gone out on a hunt, and Jenna had checked on Carl. He was in and out of it but he was doing real well.

Maggie had given the group a well to use, but upon further inspection they realized there was a walker in it, drawing the attention of the remaining group and Maggie.

"Looks like we've got us a swimmer." Shane said with a smirk on his face.

"How long you think it has been down there?" Jenna asked, wrinkling up her nose while looking over the edge.

"Long enough to grow gills." Andrea said while keeping one hand on Jenna's shoulder.

"We can't leave it in there." Lori started "God knows what it's doing to the water."

"We got to get it out."

"Easy. Put a bullet in its head."

"I'll get a rope."

"Whoa whoa, guys." Jenna said, waving her hands around in front of her. "No."

"Why not? It's a good plan."

"It's a stupid plan. If that thing hasn't contaminated the water yet, blowing its brains out will finish the job." Jenna said, crossing her arms.

"She's right." Andrea said, backing her up to the rest of the group.

"So it has to come out alive? So to speak."

"How do we do that?" Glenn asked while everyone looked between Glenn and Jenna.

"Oh come on, really?" Glenn said, looking around the group.

"You guys are the lightest in the group and the only ones we can get in and out quickly." Shane said while putting his hands on his hips. Jenna noticed Maggie's look of disapproval and fear and knew she was worried for Glenn. The thought of them together made her heart happy. Jenna took a deep breath and shook her head before picking up the rope and tying it around herself.

"No no no no no…no way Jenna, I'll do it." Glenn said, trying to take the rope from her.

"Glenn I'm the smallest person. I weigh a buck twenty if I'm lucky and I'm only 5'2". Besides, gives ya'll good motivation to get my ass back up here so you don't have an angry redneck on your hands." Jenna said with a smile.

"That's why you shouldn't do it, anything goes wrong and Daryl's gonna kill us all." Glenn pleaded with wide eyes.

"Glenn, do you really wanna go down there?" Jenna looked him square in the eyes, and when he didn't answer she continued, "That's what I thought, now help me tie this." Once they got the rope secured around her and gave a few experimental tugs, everyone grabbed onto the rope, pulling tightly while Jenna started lowering herself into the hole.

"Nice and slow, please." Jenna said when she realized she no longer had any control.

"We got you." Shane reassured her.

"Oh, you people are crazy." Maggie said, while pacing back and forth, afraid for her new found friend.

"You want to get it out of your well or not? Give us an eye there, Maggie." Shane said. Jenna looked up to see Maggie's head peering over the side.

"Doing okay?"

"Yup, doing great. Living the dream." Jenna said sarcastically, keeping a close eye underneath of her the closer she got to the walker.

"Little lower. Little more." She heard Maggie say before she felt herself free falling and let out a blood curdling scream, sending everyone into a panic, racing to get to the rope. She heard everyone screaming but it sounded incoherent over her own screaming and pleading for them to get her out while kicking her feet at the walker and trying to climb up the side of the well while it continued to grab at her feet. "Get me out of here! Get it off. Get off. Get off! Get me out! Oh my God. Oh my God. Guys, get me out! Come on, you guys." Jenna heard them yelling, "Pull! - Pull! Pull! - Pull! Pull! - Let's go, pull." While she still had some sanity she quickly threw the lasso around the bloated walker, smiling briefly when it landed perfectly. Soon she was back to the top of the well, Shane, Glenn, and Maggie pulling her up by her arms as quickly as they could. Jenna landed on her back on the ground and panted heavily, trying to steady her breathing and shaky legs.

"Are you okay?" Shane panted while Maggie and he looked her over for any scratches or bite marks. All Jenna could do was give a thumbs up causing everyone to shake their heads and let out sighs of relief.

"Back to the drawing board." Shane said while rubbing his head furiously.

"Says you." Jenna said, sitting up and smiling like an idiot at the group. Everyone looked over the edge to see she had it hooked.

"Holy shit…" Glenn laughed and patted her on her shoulder before she slumped back down on the ground. Unfortunately, trying to pull it up caused it to get caught on the lip of the well, separating it in half, the bottom half landing back in the water, defeating the whole purpose.

"Good thing we didn't do anything stupid, like shoot it." T-Dog said causing Jenna to roll her eyes.

"Not now T." Jenna said, completely exhausted.

"Oh this won't be the last of it Miss Danger…Dixon is gonna be pissed when he hears what you did and that we all helped you." Jenna started to walk away knowing he was right and only threw her middle finger up as she walked away. _Today couldn't possibly get any worse_, or so she thought before she suddenly fell to the ground after completely blacking out.

* * *

_**AN: As always please review and tell me what you might like to see in the story. Until next time...**_


	12. Chapter 10

**AN: First of all, I am so sorry for keeping everyone hanging. Life has been insanely crazy lately and I have had a lot on my plate between my daughter, family, work, and school. I recently graduated with a diploma in Medical Assisting, 4 more classes and I will have my Associates Degree in Applied Sciences. So after Christmas, school will no longer be a part of my life other than for my daughter. Updates should start to be more regular within the next couple of months. Just bear with me a little longer!**

* * *

Shane had picked Jenna up as gently as he could and ran with her back towards the house. With Hershel and Rick nowhere to be found, Maggie took after looking after her friend to find what was wrong. She made everyone wait outside in the hallway while she worked and Shane, Glenn, and T-Dog went to find the missing men.

Maggie was trying not to panic. Jenna was pale and clammy to the touch. She was most definitely dehydrated. Her lips were peeling and cracking in numerous places and when she pressed on her finger tips it took too long to fill back up with color for Maggie's liking. Her breathing was shallow and heart beat was rapid. She must have fainted, is the only conclusion she can think of at the moment. Maggie props up Jenna's feet using a stool and pillows on the bed and places cool towels on her forehead and chest.

After what felt like hours but must have only been a couple of minutes, Jenna's eyelids fluttered open and Maggie let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Sitting down on the bed next to Jenna she gripped her hand tightly and waited for her eyes to finally focus on her.

"What the hell happened?" Jenna's voice sounded hoarse and raspy like she had just smoked a whole pack of cigarettes.

"You fainted. You had much to eat or drink lately?" Maggie kept her tone friendly and concerned but gave a look of a mother hen.

"I've been splitting my food with the kids and trying to save some of the water…never know when we are gonna really need it, ya know?"

"We've got enough to make sure this don't happen again. You're gonna get yourself killed."

"Maggie, your daddy isn't gonna let us stay here. He wants us gone after Carl gets on his feet." Maggie looked at Jenna completely shocked. She couldn't believe Hershel would turn these people away. Instead of arguing she just shook her head and checked the slight cut on Jenna's forehead from her fall. It didn't look deep enough for stitches and it had already stopped bleeding but she was already starting to show some discoloring.

"You got a good bump on the head but it doesn't look too bad now. Have you given anymore thought to you maybe bein pregnant?" Maggie asked gently, not sure how she would take the question being asked at the moment.

"I can't have kids anymore Maggie." Jenna gently sat up and pressed her back against the headboard, resting her head, trying to get the dull ache to stop.

"Are you sure? I don't mean to push honey but you look a little…" She trailed off trying not to be offensive.

"You can check for yourself Mags, I'm not pregnant…I can't be."

"I'd feel better if you let me or Daddy check."

Jenna laid back down and unbuttoned her pants and pulled them off ungracefully. She knew Maggie meant well but she didn't want to know either way if she was being honest with herself. If she was by some miracle pregnant, this wouldn't be the time to try having another baby. They couldn't keep their first two alive with medical attention and a normal environment, how were they supposed to have one in this world? On the other hand, hearing all over again about being barren and empty was just going to chip away another piece of her soul. While her inner dialogue took place, Maggie gave Jenna a vaginal exam the best she could giving the lack of technology and equipment. Once she was finished she handed Jenna back her pants and washed her hands in the basin on the dresser trying to figure out how to deliver the news to her friend. Turning around slowly, giving her friend enough time to get dressed again properly she saw Jenna sitting up on the edge of the bed looking nauseous.

"You feelin alright?"

"Just a little queasy from blackin out. I'll be alright." Maggie nodded and poured her a glass of water and making sure she drank the whole glass before sitting beside her on the bed. "C'mon Mags, spit it out…" Maggie took a deep breath and held her friends hand and waited for her to look her in the eyes.

"You were right, you're not pregnant but I do think you have an infection with the scar tissue I felt. Could be another reason you passed out on us. I'll have to make a run to the pharmacy with Glenn tomorrow and get you some antibiotics." Jenna gave a sad smile a shrugged her shoulders, blinking rapidly to make the tears disappear. "I'm sorry honey." Maggie pulled her into her side and laid her head on top of hers, just letting her feel she had a support system outside of just her husband. "You'll be okay, I'm here and as soon as your redneck gets back I'm sure he will get your mind off of it." She felt a tear fall onto her shirt and squeezed her in closer.

"Thanks Mags." Jenna whispered into her shoulder and hugged her back as tightly as she could. Right now she was glad Daryl wasn't here. He shouldn't have to live through this again. He deserves so much more than she will ever be able to give him, the least she can do is put on a brave face for him.

* * *

Daryl came out of the woods and into the clearing facing the front of the house. He was able to catch 5 squirrels and 1 rabbit. Not much but it would be enough for the group for the night if they stretched it. Being in the woods cleared his mind and he needed it this morning. He's already lost his brother, and he thought he lost his wife. That crippling feeling just wouldn't leave him. He's already lost so much, he couldn't bear to lose her too. She meant more to him than was probably considered healthy but he would be damned if he didn't care. He was going to hold onto her with every fiber of his being. The stress of wondering if she was pregnant was enough to make him question everything again. He's not stupid, he remembers what the doctors said, what he looked up on the computer at the garage. With the amount of damage done to her, it would be almost impossible for her to become pregnant but on the off chance it did, there was so much that could go wrong. She could lose the baby, the baby could be still born, or she could die from hemorrhaging during birth. Her becoming pregnant could be more of a curse than a blessing, especially considering how they were fighting for their lives every day. Shaking the thoughts from his head he started to get closer to the tent when Glenn came up to him looking nervous.

"Wha?"

"Something happened with Jenna, she was helping us with the well and then she just fell over. We couldn't wake her up. Maggie's up in the house with her. Shane's still trying to find Rick and Hershel." Glenn rushed the explanation out as fast as he could to make sure he could get out the story to Daryl before he took off. It was a good thing too because Daryl was already running towards the house before he was completely finished.

Daryl ran up the stairs, two at a time just in time to catch Maggie coming out of a room, shutting the door behind her.

"She aright? She in there? Wha happened?" Maggie stood in front of him and placed her hands out in front of him to try and show everything was fine.

"She just passed out. Between the heat and not eatin or drinkin enough her body just gave out; she's fine though, I swear it." Daryl visibly relaxed and Maggie pointed him towards the room to let him know where she was and he didn't hesitate to show himself in. Opening the door as quickly as he could he saw her laying on the bed, facing away from the door and he shut the door just as quickly to crawl onto the bed with her. He pulled her back into his chest and took a deep breath, relaxing even more and kissing her cheek. He could see the dried tear tracks on her face and the way her bottom lip was quivering no matter how hard she was trying to hide it from him.

"Stop scarin me woman."

"I'm sorry." Jenna whispered and turned herself to face her husband. Just being in his arms was enough to calm her nerves and help her get some control back over her emotions.

"Why ya cryin an' don' be tellin me nothin either. No more of ya hidin shit like not eatin." Jenna couldn't meet his eyes and felt so guilty for everything she was doing to him. Her guilt amplified tenfold and she buried her face into the crook of his neck and held him tightly to her.

"You deserve so much better than me. You're such a good man Daryl Dixon and you don't get half of the good things in life that you deserve and I am so sorry that I can't make it better for you."

Daryl was completely shocked but the more he thought about her words the angrier he got. Why in the hell would she think she wasn't good enough for him? He's just some dumb redneck that had nothing going for him before her. She is everything that is right with his life. She gave him a wife, kids, and a home.

"Wha the hell are ya on about woman?" He grabbed her face between his hands and forced her to look him in the eyes. She needed to hear this and he felt bad that she felt that way about them. To him, she was pure perfection in a world of shit. "Listen ta me, yer my home. You are everythin good in my life. My life was pure shit before ya and I wouldn' trade ya for anythin. Yer my home…got it?"

Jenna teared up and gave a weak smile.

"You deserve the best Daryl. You deserve to have a wife that can give you a good life, a wife that can give you ki-"Daryl's mouth was suddenly on hers in a bruising kiss. It was hard enough to almost be unpleasurable but she knew what he meant, what the emotions behind the kiss were and she couldn't fathom how she got this man. Daryl pulled away more slowly and waited for her to open her eyes again.

"Ya are the best. I don' want fer nothin cause ya give me everythin. YOU made me a daddy and just cause they ain't here don' mean I ain't their daddy, ya hear? Now stop tryin to push me away Jenna Lynn cause I ain't goin nowhere. YOU are MY HOME, understand?" Daryl spoke with such conviction that she knew she couldn't argue with him. He was the love of her life and she needed to suck up the self-pity because he needed her, the strong her.

"I love you too baby." Jenna leaned in and gave him a much softer kiss but full of just as much emotion before whispering one last word against his lips, "Always."

* * *

**AN: I know this chapter is slightly shorter than the others I have written but it was a filler until I figure out how exactly I want the next part to play out. As always, I welcome all feedback and suggestions. Thank you all in advance for reading, reviewing, voting, liking, and subscribing!**


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